I Remember Black Skies, The Lightning All Around Me
by ZexionLover411
Summary: I remember black skies, the lightning all around me. She looked so frail and weak. She was so pale I thought she was dead. Then she looked at me. Her visible eye was red... I couldn't move. I remember feeling fear course through my small body. Then she passed out. She no longer looked scary; she looked broken. That was the day I met Kaminari.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its plot/characters. I only own my OC and my plot and any changes made to the plot of the anime.**

**This is not my first fanfic nor is it my first Naruto fic. This is my 4****th**** or 5****th**** fic if you don't count oneshots.**

**When reading this prologue please listen to this song at time 01:01:28 (If you go to the description of the song it will be the track "Soundtrack to an empty life" www . youtube watch?v = 5xa9u0oV8f0 (Get rid of all the spaces) It will help get into the mood of this opening. It's also a nice song, from a great game (in my opinion), to listen to while a storm is really happening.**

**Story is not in 1****st**** person, parts may be but for the most part it's 3****rd**** person. BTW: This is supposed to be super short.  
**

* * *

**Summary:** I remember black skies, the lightning all around me. She looked so frail and weak. She was so pale I thought she was dead. Then she looked at me. Her visible eye was red... I couldn't move. I remember feeling fear course through my small body. Then she passed out. She no longer looked scary, she looked broken. That was the day I met Kaminari.

** Prologue**

* * *

The sky darkened and black clouds rolled overhead the Hidden Leaf Village. Soft rumbles of thunder sounded and lightning flashed faintly in the distance as a storm grew closer.

Everyone was inside their homes; shops and restaurants had closed up and school was let out early. The rain started and parents called for their children who had stopped to play in the growing puddles. The village was quiet for the most part; the rain was still light and the wind blew gently causing some wind chimes to sound softly. The streets were empty except for one.

Naruto Uzumaki, age seven, was walking home alone with his head down and hands in his pockets. He brushed his blond hair out of his blue eyes. As he passed by the Hidden Leaf Village's entrance gate he saw something white out of the corner of his eye that made him stop and look as the rain started falling harder.

Kakashi Hatake walked into the village along with two other ninja's behind him. In Kakashi's arms he held a small frail-looking figure. Short straight white hair reached down to small shoulders with bangs that hid a pale face. A white dress was, ripped, torn and splattered with blood. There was a trail of red from a blood-soaked bandage.

Naruto followed the trail from the dress, up a skinny neck, then a pale cheek to the figure's left eye, concealed by the dyed bandage. The girl, as if sensing his stare, turned her head and a red eye locked onto him. Naruto froze and gulped. The girl didn't look away and Naruto was afraid to. Lightning flashed and the red eye slowly faded to blue. Naruto blinked as the girl looked away, her head falling forward as she lost consciousness just as the thunder boomed.

* * *

**Don't expect a chapter too soon. School is starting soon but I'll have plenty of time to work on it seeing as this is my senior year. So don't worry, this will get updated when it gets updated. **

**As with most of my other stories if you have an idea/suggestion please feel free to PM me. I always give credit where it's due. **


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its plot/characters. I only own my OCs and my plot and any changes made to the plot of the anime.**

**To clarify about Kaminari's scar is it's just a line going down the middle of her left eye. Both her eyes still work she just has a scar.**

**This will follow the anime at times with added scenes and things. I'm not doing every single episode. And I'll probably do a bunch of time skips here and there.**

**Thank you to my first reviewers of this story ^_^ **

**DarkFlareX: It was supposed to be super short**

* * *

"Kami-Chan!" A scarred, blue eye, hidden behind a long white side bang, twitched at the loudness of the shout. Kaminari slowly looked up to glare at the hyperactive blond boy who entered the classroom. He was tied up with rope and Iruka was bringing him in. Naruto had his huge signature grin on his face. "Kami-Chan!" Kaminari sighed looked back down at the desk she shared with Ino Yamanaka. Iruka sighed and brought Naruto into the room putting him in front of the class.

"I'm at the end of my rope, Naruto." Iruka said. "You failed the graduation test last time and the time before that. Tomorrow you've got another chance and you're messing up again." Naruto closed his eyes and turned his head away from Iruka with a 'hmph.' "Fine!" Iruka said, pointing dramatically, facing the rest of the class. "Because you missed it Naruto, _everyone_ will review the transformation jutsu!" The class all whined while Kaminari rolled her eyes and glared at Naruto. Naruto opened his eyes and saw Kaminari glaring and smiled sheepishly.

* * *

Everyone got up and lined up. Kaminari stood at the back of the line. Sakura Haruno was up first.

"Alright, Sakura here! Let's do it. Transform!" She transformed perfectly into Iruka.

"Transformed into me. Goood." Iruka said writing on a clipboard.

"Yes I did it!" Sakura cheered, jumping up and down. Kaminari rolled her eyes. "Sasuke, did you see that?"

"Next…Sasuke Uchiha." Iruka called as Sakura went to the back of the line. She glanced at Kaminari and made sure to stand a few feet away from her. Sasuke stepped up. He also transformed perfectly.

"Uh, good. Next Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto was standing next to his classmates Shikamaru and Ino. He had his hands on his pockets and looked angry.

"This is a total waste of time Naruto." Shikamaru said.

"We always pay for your screw-ups." Ino said.

"Like I care." Naruto said walking up. "Transform!" A large amount of blue chakra emitted from Naruto and he transformed into a beautiful, naked girl covered only by smoke. He winked and blew a kiss. Iruka flew back dumbfounded with a nosebleed. Naruto changed back. "Ha ha ha ha! Gotcha, that's my sexy jutsu!"

"Cut the stupid tricks! This is your last warning! " Iruka shouted. Naruto looked at the back of the line and Kaminari hid the smallest of smirks that had formed on her face as she looked away. Naruto grinned making her roll her eyes. He did a proper transformation and went to the back of the line. Sakura glared at him while Sasuke ignored him.

"Psst. Kami-Chan. Hey. Psst. Kami-"

"Naruto." Iruka scolded. Naruto frowned.

The line moved until Kaminari was at the front.

"Kaminari." Iruka called. He looked up as she walked forward. Without a word she transformed. Naruto blinked and stared at her. Instead of transforming into Iruka like the rest of the class had done, she had transformed into herself. She was shorter and had shorter hair – her hair was now down to her back and she let her bangs grow to be able to cover her scarred eye. She looked exactly how she did when Naruto first saw her. Blood covered white dress and the bloodied bandage over her left eye. The only difference was that her eye remained blue. Kaminari smirked as Iruka gulped and the rest of the class started either whispering to each other or moving away from her. She changed back, the smirk remaining on her face. "Uh, good job Kaminari." Iruka said after clearing his throat. Kaminari turned around and held back a smile at the frightened faces.

* * *

Everyone was dismissed and started to leave. Naruto rushed over to Kaminari.

"Hey Kami-Chan!" Naruto shouted. Kaminari gave him a glare which he ignored. He opened his mouth to speak when Iruka cut him off.

"_Naruto_."

"Damn it." Naruto sighed with a frown at their teacher. He turned to look at Kaminari but she was already walking to the door. Naruto extended a hand and was about to run after her. "Hey wait Ka-"

"_Naruto_." Naruto stopped, Iruka sounded annoyed.

"I'm comin, I'm comin." Naruto said turning around. He glanced back at the door in time to see white hair go out of view around the corner.

* * *

Kaminari went home to an apartment that was a few doors down from Naruto's. She stood in the hallway and unlocked her door. She looked at Naruto's door for a moment before going inside. She took off her black boots by the door before going into her bedroom. She changed out of her normal outfit: a black tank-top with a fishnet t-shirt under it, black short shorts and matching open-toed ninja boots. She pulled on an oversized white t-shirt and a pair of grey short shorts before going into her kitchen. She opened the fridge and poured herself a glass of orange juice before sitting in a chair by the window.

* * *

A knock sounded at the door and Kaminari looked up from a book she was reading. She looked at the clock and saw it was late, no so late that a visitor would be rude but it was dark outside. Kaminari got up and opened the door. She resisted the urge to close the door seeing Naruto standing there.

"Hey!" He greeted loudly with a grin making Kaminari ears twitch. She tilted her head to the side in question. "I was wondering," Naruto started, poking his fingers together and looking down. "if you'd want to get some ramen with me?" He asked. Kaminari was about to shake her head when her stomach betrayed her by growling. She tensed and her cheeks had a faint tint of pink from embarrassment. Naruto grinned with a chuckle. "I think your stomach answered for you." He said with a laugh. "I'll wait here while you change." Kaminari hesitated but nodded once and closed the door. She glared down at her stomach before going into her bedroom. She changed into a short white dress and grabbed matching shoes. She wasn't getting dressed up on purpose; she only had a few outfits: Her normal ninja outfit, Night and Dress. She didn't want to put her other clothes back on; she hadn't had time to wash them yet.

Kaminari stepped out of her apartment and locked her door behind her. She turned to see Naruto staring at her. Her eyebrows came together slightly and she tilted her head at him.

"Oh uh- hehe sorry." He said scratching the back of his head. Kaminari looked even more confused. The two started walking. "It's just that… today reminded me of that first day." He looked over at her. She only blinked at him. "The first time I saw you." He said smiling. Kaminari looked away and Naruto put his hands behind his head, looking up, as he walked. "It was raining; there was a big storm coming." He looked over at her. "Remember?" She glanced at him and nodded. He looked back up.

"Why?" Kaminari said softly after a moment. Naruto looked at her with wide eyes. Kaminari never really spoke to anyone. If a teacher asked her a question she would give them a look and they'd quickly ask another student; if she had to speak it was very quietly. Her grades didn't suffer any from lack of class participation. None of the other students talked to her either. Only Naruto would talk at her and he'd only heard her voice once or twice a few years ago. She was one of the only people who didn't hate him for having the nine-tailed fox inside him.

Kaminari looked at Naruto and frowned slightly. He hadn't answered and instead he was looking at her as he walked. He quickly looked away.

"U-uh well uh- your transformation today a-and that dress-"

"No." Kaminari shook her head and Naruto looked at her. "Why aren't you afraid of me?" She asked in an almost whisper. Naruto blinked.

"What's there to be afraid of?" He asked with a small grin. Kaminari frowned and looked forward again. "Ah- I mean- no! You _are_ scary!" He said quickly, afraid he'd offended her. "Terrifying! Really-." She looked at him with a glare and he stopped. "Sorry." He said with a frown. Kaminari looked down.

"Everyone but Kashi is afraid of me." She said quietly.

"At least they don't hate you for no reason." Naruto said with a slight pout. She looked over at him. He looked at her before looking forward. "I mean- I'm not saying they have a reason not to like you either but-"

"I know." She said. Naruto looked at her. "I was brought here covered in blood." She whispered.

"That and the whole red eye thing." Naruto muttered. Kaminari looked at him and he didn't look at her.

"I don't understand…" She said. He looked over at her as she looked down. "Why do you like me?" Naruto's eyes widened and his face went pink.

"Wh-wha-?!"

"You're the only person who tries to talk to me." Naruto blinked and the pink faded from his cheeks. "Why do you?" She looked at him.

"Well why not?" He asked. He looked away slightly. "I know what it's like." He added quieter. Kaminari looked at him and blinked. "Ya know," He said changing the subject. "This is the most I've heard you talk in… well ever." He said. Kaminari looked away and didn't say anything. "Hey don't go silent on me now!" Naruto said loudly.

"You're so loud." Kaminari said glancing at him. He grinned.

"We're here!" Naruto said running the last five feet to the ramen shop. Kaminari walked over and the two sat down. "They have the _best _ramen!" Naruto said with a huge grinned. Kaminari took out her wallet from a side pocket. "Nope." Naruto said shaking his head. "This is on me." He said with his grin.

"Thank you… Naruto." Kaminari said quietly. Naruto's cheeks went pink and he kept grinning.

"That's the first time you've said my name." He said with a slight giggle. Kaminari looked away.

"Don't make such a big deal out of it… dork." She said a small blush of embarrassment coming to her cheeks. Naruto just kept grinning.

* * *

**So how was that? ^_^ Hope you guys liked this.**

**I have no actual plan for this yet so until I do I'm winging it and writing chapters based on early episodes. Before posting this I made sure to have at least the next chapter done as well as at least half of the one after that done. **

**Please don't complain about how everyone is afraid of Kaminari and she comes off as scary and mean but she's really shy and stuff. I have a plan (of sorts) for her character. **

**To put it simply she's treated like Naruto and uses it as a way to get people to not bother her. She doesn't hate Naruto she just, like most of his classmates, thinks he's annoying at times. **


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its plot/characters. I only own my OCs and my plot and any changes made to the plot of the anime.**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed and Favorited and followed. **

* * *

"We will now start the final exam." Iruka said. "When your name is called proceed to the testing room. The final test will be on the clone jutsu." Naruto put his hands to his face and looked distraught. He glanced to the back of the room at Kaminari, who looked rather bored and uninterested, before looking forward. Naruto gulped.

The first name was called and then that student entered the testing room. The rest of the class began talking amongst themselves, moving from their seats to sit with their friends. Ino got up from her spot next to Kaminari quickly and moved to sit with her friends. Kaminari looked down at her desk. Someone sat next to her and she looked over to see Naruto.

"Hey." He said with a smile. Kaminari looked down slightly. "It's okay if you don't wanna talk." He said. The smile remained on his face. Kaminari glanced around the room slightly before looking back at him.

"Good luck." She whispered. Naruto blushed slightly and grinned more.

"You too."

After the exam Naruto sat outside on the tree swing while all the other kids, who had all passed the exam, were crowded around the entrance with their parents showing off their headbands. Kaminari didn't have to bother pushing her way through the crowd as they moved out of the way when they saw her. She noticed Naruto on the swing and frowned slightly.

"There, do you see him?" A woman said to another.

"It's that boy. I hear he's the only one who failed." The second said.

"Hmph! Well it serves him right." The first said as Naruto put his goggles back on his head.

"Just imagine if he became a ninja. I mean he's the boy who-"

"Shhh! We're not allowed to talk abou-!" They turned around and both jumped with small 'eeps'. Kaminari stood there glaring up at them silently. The two gulped and quickly moved away from her. She watched them for a moment before looking over at the swing. She frowned slightly seeing Naruto wasn't there anymore. She shot another glare at the women before walking away from the school with her headband hanging by her side in her hand.

* * *

The next day while eating lunch Kaminari stared at her newly acquired ninja headband. They had a day off before orientation but were still allowed to wear the headband before that if they wanted to. Everyone was supposed to get their picture taken today; Kaminari's appointment was later that day.

Kaminari put away her dishes and turned back to look at the headband on the table. She walked up to it and opened a drawer below it. She pulled out a ninja headband with black cloth instead of the blue that was on her Leaf headband. It was slightly scratched up and had a small dent in it. The black cloth had a few rips and tares in it and the ends looked as though they were burned. Suddenly someone knocked on the door making Kaminari jump and quickly put the headband back into the drawer. She opened the door and blinked at Naruto.

"Check it out!" He pointed to his headband with a huge grin. Kaminari looked at him confused. "Iruka-Sensei passed me!" He opened his eyes, still grinning, and looked at her. His grin faded. "Aw don't tell me you're not talking again!" He whined. "Where's your headband?" He asked. Kaminari pointed into her apartment. "Go get it." Kaminari blinked and got the headband before walking back to the door. "Well? Put it on." Kaminari looked down at the headband. She hadn't decided on how she was going to wear it. She could wear it on her forehead like most ninja, as a headband in her hair, around her upper arm, around her neck or around her waist. Kaminari looked back up at Naruto. He blinked at her.

"H-How should I wear it?" She asked.

"Wear it as a headband like girls wear." He said. She nodded and put it on as a headband making sure her bangs were still covering her scar. Naruto shook his head. "No no no." He said. He pulled the headband down so it was around her neck and pushed it back on like a headband so her hair was out of her face more. Kaminari looked at him with slightly wide eyes and blinked. "Much better." Kaminari reached up to pull her hair over her eye but Naruto shook his head. "Nu-uh." He said. "You look better like this." Kaminari looked down to hide the tint of pink that come to her cheeks. "Uh-! Not that you didn't look good before I just meant-"

"Thank you." She said looking up at him.

"No problem." He grinned. "Did you get your picture taken yet?" She shook her head. "I did but they want me to do it again." He pouted. "I worked hard on mine." Kaminari tried not to smile. "Come on, I'll walk you to yours!" He said with a smile. Kaminari nodded and grabbed her keys before locking the door behind her.

* * *

"Here to redo your photo kid?" The photographer asked Naruto.

"No way!" He said. "She's here to get hers taken." He said pushing Kaminari forward. She blinked. The guy sighed and motioned for her to sit on the stood.

"Go sit." He said. Naruto stood next to the guy and grinned. Kaminari sat down and sat up straight.

"Come on, smile!" Naruto said. "Like this!" He used his fingers to make himself smile. Kaminari bit her tongue but in the end a small smile slipped through and the camera flashed. "Alright, let's see, let's see!" The photographer looked annoyed and Kaminari walked over.

"You know the drill kid." The photographer said. Naruto sighed.

"But I don't wanna wait!" Naruto whined. Kaminari gently touched Naruto's arm. He looked at her. "Yeah?"

"We could always get ramen while we wait." She said quietly.

"Great idea!" Naruto shouted. "Come on!"

* * *

After ramen, which Kaminari paid for – they both agreed to take turns paying – the two went to see how the picture turned out. A lady handed the paper to Kaminari but Naruto grabbed it.

"Whoa! You look so cute!" Naruto said with a grin. He noticed the blush coming to Kaminari's face and blushed himself realizing he'd said that out loud. He laughed nervously. "Uh- why is your birthday blank?" He asked, desperate to change the subject as they started walking back to their apartments.

"I don't know it." She said. Naruto blinked.

"Then how do you know how old you are?!" Naruto asked very loudly. Kaminari shrugged.

"They guessed." She took the paper. "That's why it says 'a-p-r-o-x 12'." She said before looking at him.

"How am I gunna know when to celebrate your birthday?" Naruto asked with a frown. Kaminari blinked.

"You never did before. No one says you have to now."

"Of course I have to now!" Naruto shouted making her jump. "Friends celebrate each other's birthdays. Mine's October 10th by the way." He added with a grin. He stopped walking and when he saw Kaminari was no longer beside him. He looked back to see her staring at him a few feet away. "What's wrong?"

"W-we're… friends?" She asked. Naruto blinked.

"Yeah." He said. "That's okay right?" He asked hesitantly. She nodded and Naruto grinned. "Great!"

The two walked back to their apartments. They stopped outside Kaminari's door.

"See you tomorrow!" Naruto said. He turned to go to his apartment but stopped and turned around as Kaminari was opening her door. "Hey… uh, do you wanna maybe walk there together?" He asked. Kaminari nodded with a faint smile. Naruto grinned. "Awesome." He said before they went into their apartments. Naruto jumped up with a fist. "Yes!" He heard a soft giggle and realized he'd said that a bit too loud. His whole face turned red.

* * *

**Couldn't think of anything else to add to this chapter. I have the next one almost done. **


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its plot/characters. I only own my OCs and my plot and any changes made to the plot of the anime.**

**Thank you to everyone who favorite-d and followed this and big thank you to the people who reviewed especially shika93 for reviewing all three chapters so far. ^_^ **

**Enjoy. (If I make a big grammar/spelling mistake please tell me and I'll fix it when I can ^^)**

**(BTW: at some point there's gunna be a whole flashback chapter)**

* * *

The day of orientation Naruto and Kaminari walked side by side. They came upon an area with wooden fences and suddenly the Hokage's grandson, Konohamaru, jumped out from behind a cloth with a wood pattern.

"You're mine, Naruto!" He shouted. He took a step forward and tripped over the cloth he'd been hiding behind and fell onto his face. The two stared at him.

"Uh, what do you think you're doing, Konohamaru?" Naruto asked.

"That was a slick move." Konohamaru said from the ground. "That's why I respect you as a rival, ugh." He said getting up.

"But I didn't do anything." Naruto said.

"Alright, now fight me fair and square." Konohamaru made a hand sign.

"Sorry, I've got an orientation." Naruto said scratching the back of his head.

"Orientation?"

"That's right; as of today I'm a ninja. Believe it." Naruto pointed to his headband.

"Ah.." Konohamaru looked a bit in awe. Naruto chuckled. "You're a ninja _and_ you have a girlfriend?!" Naruto and Kaminari blinked before looking from Konohamaru to each other then back.

"Sh-She's not my-!" Naruto started shaking his hands in front of him with wide eyes while Kaminari looked away slightly embarrassed. Naruto looked at her and blushed before looking back at Konohamaru who had his arms crossed.

* * *

Naruto sat at his desk, next to Sasuke, with a grin on his face. Shikamaru walked past and stopped, seeing him.

"What are you doing here, Naruto?" He asked. "This isn't for drop outs; you can't be here unless you graduated."

"Oh yeah? Do you see this? Do you see this? Open your eyes, Shikamaru, it's a regulation headband." Naruto said pointing his thumb at his headband. "We're gunna be training together. How do ya like that!"

"Hmph." Shikamaru put a hand on his pocket.

"Lemme put it to ya this way; I look great in this head gear." Naruto put his hands on the headband. "Like it was made for me. Believe it. Hahahaha." Suddenly the doors opened and Sakura and Ino were trying to get into the classroom before the other. They ended up pushing themselves in.

"I'm first!" They both said in unison with their arms spread. They were both breathing heavily.

"I win again, Sakura." Ino said.

"Give it up." Sakura said. "I had to look back to see you. My toe was at least a tenth of an inch ahead."

"Have you always been this delusional?" Ino asked. Naruto turned around. He had a slight blush on his face looking at Sakura. She turned and looked in his direction. Suddenly she looked happy and excited and ran in his direction. "Hey whoa where are you going?"

"Hi Sakura, what's up?" Naruto asked raising a hand. Kaminari glanced over and frowned slightly at Naruto's blush.

"Move it!" She said pushing him out of the way. "Uh, good morning Sasuke." She said looking at the raven haired boy. He looked at her silently. "Mind if I sit next to you?"

"Back off forehead!" Ino said grabbing Sakura's arm. "I'm sitting next to Sasuke."

"I was here first." Sakura said in an almost growl.

"I walked into the classroom before you did." Ino said. "Everybody saw it."

"Dream on."

"Actual, I got here before either of you." A girl said walking over.

"So did I, I'm sitting next to Sasuke." Another said. More girls started to walk over.

"No I am!" One shouted. Sasuke looked away. Naruto, still on the ground from when Sakura pushed him out of the way, growled. Sasuke heard a noise in front of him and looked up.

"Hm?" Naruto was less than two inches away from Sasuke's face, crouched on the desk.

"Naruto! Hey stop glaring at Sasuke!" Sakura shouted while the she and the other girls all glared at Naruto. Naruto looked at her a moment before looking back at Sasuke. The girls all started talking at once as the two boys glared at each other.

"Whoa this is great!" A kid, who sat in front of Sasuke, said as he swung his arm back. "Sorry did I bump you?" He asked looking back at the two. The whole classroom froze and stared.

"What the?" Sakura said.

"I Uh.." Ino said. The boy had pushed Naruto and Naruto had ended up kissing Sasuke. The two broke away quickly, coughing and whining both holding their throats. Naruto stopped.

"Huh? Danger?" He turned his head to see all the girls glaring at him.

"Naruto." Sakura said. "You are so dead."

"Hey, whoa, it was an accident." He said putting up his hands.

"You're finished." Sakura said cracking her knuckles.

* * *

Naruto sat next to Sakura lying on his desk, beat up.

"As of today you are all ninjas." Iruka said standing in front of the class. "To get here you face difficult trials and hardships. But that's nothing. What comes next will be far more difficult. Now you're only genin, first level ninjas. All the genin will be grouped into three man squads. Each squad will be led by a jounin, an elite ninja.

"Well someone's gotta be in Sasuke's group." Ino said from behind Sakura. "I wonder who."

"I dunno." Sakura said before turning around to glare at her.

"We want each squad to have a balance of strength and abilities." Iruka said. "So that's how we set them up."

"Iruka-sensei?" A boy asked raising his hand.

"Yes Hiroshi?"

"How is there gunna be groups of three if there're 19 students?"

"Don't worry about that." Iruka said with a smile. "We've already figured that out." Iruka looked at the papers he was holding. "I will now announce the squads."

* * *

"Squad seven: Naruto Uzumaki." Iruka called. Naruto lifted his head and Kaminari looked over. "Sakura Haruno."

"Yeah!" Naruto cheered, standing up with his hands in the air.

"I'm doomed." Sakura let her head fall. Kaminari frowned slightly.

"and Sasuke Uchiha." Iruka said. Naruto and Sakura swapped emotions on poses. She cheered while he hung his head. "Next Squad eight: Hinata Hyuuga."

"Yes sir." She said quietly.

"Kiba Inuzuka." He looked up with a chuckled. "Shino Aburame." Shino pushed his sunglasses up. Sakura turned around and gave Ino a smug peace sign.

"Uggh. How did you get in his group?!" Ino growled.

"I don't get it." Shikamaru said from his seat to Ino's left. "What do you see in a guy like that? He's not so special."

"You are so beyond clueless, Shikamaru." She said. "Don't you get it?"

"No I don't get it." He said looking at her. "Cause I'm not a girl." Ino sighed.

"You are so full of yourself." She said. "Jealousy's a terrible thing. I'd hate to be on your squad."

"Now Squad 10: Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara."

"Ha, did you say something about hating to be on my squad?" Shikamaru said with a grin making Ino glare. "And Choji Akimiji." Choji was stuffing chips into his mouth. Ino held her head in despair. "Those are all the squads."

"Iruka-sensei." Naruto said standing up and pointing towards Sasuke. "Why does a great ninja like me have to be in the same group with a slug like Sasuke?!"

"Sasuke had the best score of all the graduating students." Iruka said. "Naruto, you had the worst scores." The class started laughing. "To create a balanced group we put the best student with the worst student."

"Just make sure you don't get in my way." Sasuke said. "Loser."

"Hey, what did you say?!"

"Hard of hearing?" Sasuke asked making the class laugh again.

"Knock it off Naruto sit down." Sakura said. Iruka cleared his throat.

"After lunch, you'll meet your new Jounin teachers." Iruka said. "Until then class dismissed."

"Ah- Iruka-sensei!" Naruto called making Iruka sigh. "What about Kami-Chan? You didn't call her name." A few students looked back at the girl who was resting her head in her hand. She looked at them and they looked away. She looked down at her desk. Iruka nodded.

"Kaminari, I'd like to speak with you." Iruka said. She blinked at him and nodded. Naruto looked back and forth between the two.

* * *

Naruto stood outside leaning against the wall after getting shot down by Sakura to eat lunch together. A few minutes later Kaminari came outside.

"Kami-Chan." He said with a grin. "Hey."

"Hey." She said quietly. "You're not eating lunch with your team?" She asked.

"Uh- naaah." He said with a half chuckle. "Come on."

* * *

The two ate a quick lunch before going to sit on top of a building.

"There's got to be a way to deal with this." Naruto said out loud. Kaminari looked at him in confusion. "Huh?" Naruto saw Sasuke inside eating a rice ball and a wicked grin came over his face. "Got it!"

"Naruto?" Kaminari asked. He looked at her and she raised an eyebrow.

"I'll see you later Kami-Chan." Naruto said before jumping down to land on the room by the window Sasuke was by.

"Naru-…." Kaminari frowned, reaching out slightly. She sighed and jumped down.

* * *

Kaminari walked by herself, her hands in her pockets and her head lowered slightly. The sky started to darken slowly and she stopped to look up. Black clouds rolled over head and a rain drop hit right below Kaminari's left eye before slowly falling down her cheek and off to the ground. She lowered her head as the rain fell. She stood there a moment before she continued on to get back to the classroom.

"What's up with the rain?"

"It was sunny two seconds ago."

"Aw man, I didn't bring my umbrella." Students complained as Kaminari walked back into the classroom and rang out her hair and clothes before going to sit down. All the students returned to the classroom within 10 minutes of the rain starting. It was starting to let up a bit by the time Sakura and Sasuke returned to the class. Naruto returned later than everyone else with a hand over his stomach. Iruka came into the classroom followed by a bunch of jounin ninja. Each team left with their jounin leaving Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and Kaminari. Iruka turned to leave the room.

"Iruka-sensei!" Iruka stopped and looked at Naruto. "Is Kami-Chan in our group?"

"You'll see Naruto." Iruka said before leaving. Naruto sighed and looked back at Kaminari who was seated in the back. He got up and sat next to her.

"What did Iruka-sensei talk to you about before?" He asked. Kaminari turned her head away from him making him frown. "Huh?" He blinked. "What's the matter? Are you mad at me?"

"Leave her alone Naruto." Sakura said rolling her eyes at him. Naruto and Kaminari looked at her a bit shocked and a bit confused. Kaminari shook it off quickly and looked away again.

* * *

"He's late." Naruto said annoyed. Sasuke was sitting at the desk closest to the door, Kaminari sat two seats behind him, Sakura leaned against the middle desk and Naruto was at the door looking out into the hallway. "Hmm."

"_Naruto_, Just sit down." Sakura said.

"I don't want to." Naruto said looking back at her. "How come our teacher is the only one that's late? I'm ready to roll. Believe it!" Naruto turned to face them. "The other groups already met their new teachers and took off on some adventure or something and Iruka-sensei's gone too."

"We know, okay?" Sakura said closing her eyes. She heard noises and opened them. "Hey what are you doing?" Sasuke and Kaminari looked over to see Naruto standing on a stood putting an eraser between the doors so that when it opened it would fall. Naruto giggled as Sakura walked up to him with her hands on her hips.

"Naruto!"

"That's what he gets for coming late!" Naruto said jumping down from the stool with his hands on his hips as well. "Surprise!"

"You're asking for trouble." Sakura said. "You know you shouldn't do that."

"Hn. Our teacher's a jounin, an elite ninja, You think he'd fall for that?" Sasuke asked. Kaminari hid a smirk.

"Yeah Sasuke's right." Sakura said. "You're so clueless Naruto." A hand touched the door and Naruto stared giggling again. Kakashi Hatake opened the door and the eraser hit his head with a puff of chalk dust before falling to the floor. Naruto burst out laughing while pointing.

"I got him! He totally fell for it!"

"I'm sorry sensei." Sakura apologized. "I told him not to do it but he wouldn't listen. _I'd _never do anything like that." Kakashi picked up the eraser and looked at it.

"Hmm. How can I put this?" He put his hand on his masked chin. "My first impression of this group: You're a bunch of idiots." All three faces fell. A giggle sounded behind them and they looked confused before looking at Kaminari, who was suddenly behind them and, who was holding a hand to her mouth with a smile.

"You're always late Kashi-Sama." She said. All three genin blinked. Naruto out of curiosity and Sasuke and Sakura out of shock; they'd never really heard her speak before let alone giggle. Kakashi blinked.

"Nari-Chan?" He didn't look that surprised, though it was hard to tell since the mask.

"Wait a minute! Wait a minute! You two know each other?!" Naruto asked confused. Kaminari leaned over to Naruto and cupped her hand by his ear.

"He was the one who found me. Remember?" She leaned back. Naruto blinked and looked at Kakashi, slightly recognizing him from that night so many years ago.

"Follow me." Kakashi said before turning around.

"Wait! Does that mean Kami-Chan's on our team?" Naruto asked. Kakashi held back a slightly chuckle about 'Kami-chan' and looked at her.

"Didn't tell them?" The three genin looked at Kaminari confused and Kakashi nodded. "Very well, we'll explain it to them later."

* * *

The rain had stopped so the five went out to the top of a building.

"Alright, why don't you introduce yourselves?" Kakashi asked. He was leaning against the railing a few feet away from the four who were sitting on some steps. "One at a time."

"Introduce ourselves?" Sakura asked. "Well, what are we supposed to say?" Kakashi held his arms out a bit.

"Things you like, things you hate, dreams for the future, hobbies. Things like that." He said crossing his arms again.

"Why don't you tell us though first?" Naruto asked. "I mean before we talk, tell us about you so we can see how it's supposed to work.

"Me?" Kakashi pointed to himself. "I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate… I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future, I never really thought about it. As for my hobbies, I have lots of hobbies."

"That was totally useless; all he really told us was his name." Sakura said to the others.

"Uh-huh." Naruto nodded.

"Okay, your turn." Kakashi said. "You on the right, you first." Naruto smiled and played with his headband.

"Believe it. I'm Naruto Uzumaki; I like instant ramen in a cup and I _really_ like the ramen Iruka-sensei got me at Ichiraku noodle shop. But I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and preparing them and my future dream is," Naruto stood. "to be the greatest Hokage! Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody. Somebody important." Kakashi looked at him.

"Alright, next."

"I'm Sakura Haruno." Sakura said with her hand on her knees with a smile. "What I like- uh- I mean the person I like is…" She looked over at Sasuke with a blush and a slight giggle. He didn't even look at her. "Uh- my hobby is uh-" She giggled some more. "My dream for the future is-" She squealed into her hands quietly.

"And?" Kakashi asked. "What do you hate?"

"Naruto!" She said without missing a beat. Naruto flinched.

"Next." Kakashi said.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha." He said without taking his hands from his mouth. "I hate a lot of things and I don't particularly _like_ anything." Sakura stopped smiling. "What I have is not a dream because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan and destroy a certain someone." Everyone was quiet and Naruto looked a bit nervous.

"Good, you're each unique and you have your own ideas." Kakashi said.

"What about Kami-Chan?!" Naruto asked.

"Right, I'd almost forgot." He looked at Kaminari. She cleared her throat and noticed Sakura and Naruto looking at her while Sasuke couldn't care less.

"My name is Kaminari." She said glancing at the others. She crossed her arms. "I like…" She looked down and thought. "The rain and storms." She said. "I hate… forgetting." She said quietly. "My hobbies are… sketching and reading. My dream for the future is… to remember." She looked back up and noticed that all four were now looking at her, even Sasuke. Kakashi motioned for her to come over.

"Kaminari here is also a chunin." He said putting a hand on her shoulder with an eye-smile.

"What?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Huh?" Sakura looked utterly confused.

"How?!" Naruto shouted again.

"Five years ago when I… found her," He looked at her. "She already had a ninja headband."

"B-But five years ago?" Naruto asked. "That means she was…" He started counting on his fingers.

"She was the same age as you Naruto." Sakura said. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Seven." He said.

"Seven!" Naruto shouted.

"The village she was from trained their ninjas at a very young age. She's not the youngest to become a ninja but she's one of them."

"I became genin at age six then chunin the year after." She said.

"Then why did you go to school with us?" Sakura asked.

"Because she wasn't a _Leaf_ ninja." Kakashi said. "The Hokage wanted her to redo training here. Now she's a Leaf ninja but she's a Leaf genin but she's really chunin level." He looked at her. "You could probably become Jounin in a year or two." He said thoughtfully.

"Meaninnng?" Naruto asked.

"She has more training than you three combined." Kakashi deadpanned.

"Wait so why is she on our team?" Naruto asked.

"There was an odd amount of students and she personally requested me." Kakashi looked at Kaminari and she was smiling slightly. Naruto blinked. "Besides, she'll still do the training but she won't really need it. Think of it as having another, less trained than I, teacher." Kaminari gave him a slight glare. "No need for harsh looks Nari-Chan." Kaminari rolled her eyes.

"Wait, then why did Sasuke have the best scores if Kami-Chan is a chunin?" Naruto asked.

"I thought it would be unfair." Kaminari said. Sasuke looked at her. "Wouldn't want him to feel…" She looked at him. "weak." Sasuke's eye twitched.

"Anyway," Kakashi said. "We'll have our first mission tomorrow." Kakashi said.

"What kind of mission are we going to have?" Naruto asked.

"It's a task that the five of us will do together."

"What what what what?" Naruto asked.

"A survival exercise."

"Huh? Survival exercise?"

"I thought we were supposed to have a real mission not more practice." Sakura said. "We already did this stuff at the academy; that's how we got _here_."

"This is not like your previous training." Kakashi said.

"So uh- So uh what kind of training is it then?" Naruto asked holding up his hand. Kakashi started chuckling.

"Hey hold on, that's a normal question. What's so funny?" Sakura asked.

"Well, if I tell you the answer you're not going to like it." Kakashi said before chuckling some more.

"Huh?" Naruto looked confused.

"Kashi-Sama" Kaminari said. "You can really creepy sometimes." She said quietly. Kakashi opened his eyes and his face was serious.

"Of the 28 graduates who just came here only 9 will actually be accepted as genin. The other 19 will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is a make it or break it pass fail test and the chance you'll fail is at least 66%." Kakashi said. The three looked at him. "See, didn't I tell you you wouldn't like it?"

"That's crazy!" Naruto shouted. "We worked hard to get here. Believe it! What was that graduation test for anyway?!"

"Oh that, that was just to select the candidates who might become genin, or no."

"Whaaaaat?!"

"That's how it is." Kakashi said. "I decide whether you pass or fail. Be at the designated training spot at five am, and bring your ninja gear." The three genin looked determined and a bit upset. Kakashi turned around to put his back to them and waved with one hand. "That's it, you're dismissed." He looked back at them. "Oh, tomorrow you better skip breakfast or else… you'll puke." The faces of the three genin were quite comical.

* * *

Kakashi left and the three genin stood up. Sakura and Sasuke started to leave to go home while Naruto went up to Kaminari.

"Why didn't you tell me you were already a ninja?" He asked crossing his arms. She looked at him and shrugged.

"It never came up."

"Never came-?! We were in school to become ninjas! How did you already being a ninja not come up?!" Naruto shouted. Kaminari looked away. "and you know our teacher already."

"He's the one who saved me." Kaminari said. "He took care of me when I moved into your building." The two started to walk back to their apartments.

"You'll have to call him Kakashi-Sensei now." Naruto said glancing at her.

"I'm sure Kashi-Sama wouldn't mind." Naruto frowned slightly. "Do you… wanna get some ramen before we go home?" Naruto seemed to perk up.

"Huh? Of course!" He said happily. Kaminari smiled.

* * *

**What do you think? I'll work on the next chap (got a few paragraphs already) when I get home tomorrow from a sleepover/Marvel Movie Marathon ^_^**

**(I hate that the line break button is missing from the copy and paste part of Doc Manager. I have to do it in edit/view and it bunches everything up.)**


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its plot/characters. I only own my OCs and my plot and any changes made to the plot of the anime.**

**I'm home sick today and (And I also was yesterday) so I was able to work on this. I also got a new battery for my laptop so I can take this with me to school. Check out bottom A/N to find out some things. (I have about the next 3 or so chapters planned out and the next 2 typed up.)**

**If there are any big mistakes please tell me ^_^**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

The next morning Kaminari multitasked, making her lunch while eating a small breakfast. She put on her headband and glanced at the clock. It was almost 11:00. She finished packing her lunch and headed out. It didn't take her long to reach the training site. She saw Sakura and Naruto sitting on the ground while Sasuke stood nearby. Naruto looked tired still but snapped out of it when he saw her.

"Kami-Chan! Where were you? I thought you'd gotten here before me but when we got here you weren't… here."

"I slept in." She said.

"But Kakashi-Sensei told us to meet him here at five." Sakura said.

"I know." Kaminari said. She sat down next to Naruto after putting her bag with the others. A few minutes later Kakashi walked up.

"Morning everyone." Kakashi said. "Ready for your first day?"

"Hey you're late!" Naruto and Sakura shouted in unison.

"Well a black cat crossed my path," He pointed behind him. "So I had to take the long way." The two 'growled'. "Well," Kakashi cleared his throat. "Let's get started." He put a timer/clock on a stump. "Here we go. It's set for noon." He said pressing it. Kakashi took out two bells and held them by their strings. "Your assignment is very simple. You just have to take these bells from me and Nari-Chan. That's all there is to it."

"Wait she's helping you?" Sakura asked.

"Yes. Each of us will have a bell. If she loses her bell, she fails." Kakashi held out one of the bells for her. "And to make it more difficult, the bell will be around her neck." The three gave their teacher a what-the-hell look while Kaminari tied the bell around her neck like a necklace.

"But if she's on our squad why is she working against us?" Sakura asked.

"She's only on your squad until she is assigned to her own."

"Whaaa?! But I want Kami-Chan to stay on my team!" Naruto whined.

"Five people on a squad isn't normal Naruto." Sakura said.

"So what if it's not normal?!" Naruto yelled at her.

"_Anyway_" Kakashi said. "If you can't get a bell by noon you go without lunch."

"Ahh?" Naruto's eyes widened.

"You'll be tied to those posts," Kakashi said pointing to three large logs about 20 feet away. "And you'll watch as I eat my lunch in front of you." Sakura held her stomach and Naruto had his hands on his face while Sasuke looked annoyed.

"Wait a minute there's three of us." Sakura said. "How come there's only two bells?" She held up two fingers. Kakashi smiled with his eyes.

"Well that way at least one of you will end up tied to a post and ultimately disqualified for failing to complete the mission; that one goes back to the academy. Then again, all three of you could flunk out too. You can use any weapons including shuriken if you're not prepared to kill me you won't be able to take the bells." He put them in his fist.

"Those weapons are too dangerous, sensei!" Sakura said.

"Especially since you couldn't even dodge that eraser." Naruto said with a laugh holding his arms behind his head.

"Class clowns are usually the weakest links." Kakashi said. "You can safely ignore them, lowest scores, losers." Kaminari frowned up at Kakashi. Naruto looked annoyed. "When I say start you can begin." Naruto growled and took out a kunai, twirling it around his finger before gripping it. Naruto ran at him but suddenly Kakashi had one had on Naruto's head and the other holding Naruto's hand to make him point the kunai at the back of Naruto's head. "Don't be in such a hurry. I didn't say start yet." Sakura and Sasuke took a few steps back. Kakashi let Naruto go and he held his wrist. "But you came at me with the full intention of destroying me so, how can I say this?" Kakashi asked with a chuckle. "I'm actually starting to like you guys. Get ready, and….._start_!" The three jumped away.

* * *

Kaminari looked at Kakashi and he glanced at her then noticed Naruto standing about 10 feet away.

"You and me right now, fair and square." He said. "Let's go!"

"Hm?" Kakashi's head tilted briefly. "You know, compared to the others you're a little bit.. weird."

"Oh yeah, the only thing weird here is your hair cut." Naruto said. Kaminari resisted the urge to face palm.

"Don't hurt him too bad, Kashi-Sama." Kaminari said looking up at Kakashi. Naruto glared and started running at Kakashi as Kaminari was suddenly gone.

* * *

Kaminari sighed as he sat up on a high tree branch watching the two below. She face palmed seeing Kakashi had his book out.

"What are you waiting for?" Kakashi asked. "Make your move."

"But- I mean- why are you reading that book?"

"Cause he's a pervert." Kaminari muttered.

"Why?" Kakashi asked, not looking up from his book, his eyes glued to the pages. "To find out what happens in the story of course. Don't let it bother you; with your weak attacks it doesn't really matter if I'm reading or whatever." Naruto clenched his fists and ran at Kakashi.

"I'm going to crush you!" Naruto went to hit him but Kakashi blocked it with one had without looking away from his book. Naruto did a sweep kick and Kakashi simply crouched quickly. "Now you're mine!" Naruto punched but suddenly Kakashi was behind him. He had his hands together, his book closed between them, and two fingers on each hand out in a hand sign.

"Don't let your enemy get behind you all the time." Suddenly Sakura popped up from where she was hiding in the bushes.

"Naruto get outta there quick!" She shouted. "He's going to destroy you." Kaminari sighed.

"Too late." Kakashi said as Naruto looked over at her. "Leaf Village Secret Finger Jutsu!" Kaminari closed her eyes with another sigh. "A Thousand Years of Death!" Naruto went flying into the water. Okay where was I?" Kakashi asked himself taking out his book again. Suddenly two shuriken shot out from the water at Kakashi but he easily caught them on two fingers.

Naruto crawled out of the water coughing and panting.

"What are you doing now?" Kakashi asked him. "You know you won't get lunch unless you take a bell by noon. Nari-Chan has one too you know." He reminded. "It would be a waste of time for the three of you to focus on me."

"I know I know, you told us already." Naruto said.

"You look pretty wobbly for someone who's going to surpass the Hokage."

"You told us not to eat breakfast, how can I fight when I'm starving to death?!" Naruto shouted. "So you caught me off guard, that's all it was, believe it!" Naruto shouted as Kakashi walked away. "I'm so hungry I don't have any strength, but I can't let that stop me I gotta get one of those bells no matter what. I'll find the strength somehow, believe it. I'm gunna pass this test and I'm _not_ going back to the academy. I _will _become a ninja." Suddenly a bunch of Naruto clones came out of the water. Kakashi glanced back to see them.

"Hm."

"HA HA! You're overconfident sensei! That's why you weren't ready for a shadow clone attack, my best jutsu." There were seven Narutos.

"Hm it looks like the stories are true." Kakashi muttered. "Great technique but I don't think you can maintain it for very long." Kakashi said. "You talk like you're the best, Naruto, but you're still the worst student. You can't beat me with this jutsu." Suddenly the bell jiggled as a Naruto grabbed Kakashi from behind.

"Didn't you say don't let your enemies get behind you? Good advice, sensei, believe it." Because Kakashi was so shocked about the first Naruto on him it allowed the rest to grab onto him. "I had one of my clones come out of the river then sneak up behind super quiet." The real Naruto was in the air bringing a punch down. "Now this is for nailing me in the butt earlier! You're mine and so are those bells!" Naruto's punch connected but he had hit one of his clones.

"Naruto punched… Naruto." Sakura said.

"It's you…you're Kakashi sensei aren't you?!" Naruto pointed. "You transformed into me using a jutsu." The clones began fighting each other.

"Hey let's undo the jutsu!"

"Yeah that's it! Believe it!"

"Then there'll be just two of us so we'll know who's who."

"Shoulda thought of that sooner, fool."

"You're the jerk, why didn't you think of it?"

"Just undo the jutsu!" There was a large puff of smoke and Naruto was standing by himself, beat up. He suddenly noticed a bell by the base of a tree.

"A bell? I musta got to him with my attack, he dropped a bell!" Naruto said running over. He laughed and reached down to pick it up. Suddenly he was caught in a trap and was hanging by his ankles upside-down. "AH! Hey! Hey! Lemme down! What is this?! Help! Somebody!" Naruto struggled to reach the bell on the ground. "The bell! Err!" Kakashi picked up the bell. Kakashi sighed.

"Think before you use a jutsu or else your opponent might use it against you."

"Awwww."

"Oh and also, if the bait is obvious don't take it." Kakashi smiled with his eyes. "A ninja must see through deception.

"I! GET! IT!" Naruto said while struggling.

"I'm telling you this because you _don't_ get it. You_ think _you get it which is not the same as actually getting it. Get it?" Suddenly Sasuke sent out a barrage of weapons at Kakashi. "Won't you ever learn?" Kakashi got pelted with the weapons and Sakura let out a yelp.

"AH! He just got blasted by shuriken!" Naruto shouted. "Are you outta your mind Sasuke?! You went too far!" As Kakashi fell he turned into a log. The log thudded to the ground and Sasuke took off.

* * *

Kaminari decided she'd spent enough time in the tree watching everyone and decided to get down from the tree. Sakura went after Sasuke and moments later Kaminari heard her scream so Kaminari assumed Kakashi found her. Kaminari walked over to Naruto.

"A ninja must see through deception." Naruto said in a mocking voice. "Yeah yeah! How am I supposed to do that?! Ugh!" He leaned up with a kunai to cut himself down. "Well I'm sure not falling for any more of his traps. Naruto flipped and hit the ground. He grinned and giggled but then was pulled up again by one ankle. "Ahhh! I fell for it _again_!" Kaminari walked up to him.

"Want some help?" She asked looking up at him.

"I can get down myself!" He shouted. He opened his eyes wide and looked at her. "Ah- I didn't mean to-" Kaminari smiled with her eyes closed, making Naruto blush slightly.

"It's okay." She opened her eyes. "It seems no one wants to try and take my bell. She tilted her head to the side and the bell around her neck jingled.

"Don't worry; I won't take your bell." Naruto said. Kaminari blinked.

"But if you don't then you'll go back to the academy."

"Nope! I'm gunna take the one from Kakashi-sensei then neither of us will have to go back! Believe it!" Kaminari blinked.

"Why… you could just try to take mine; I'm only chunin level, it would be easier than Kashi-Sama." Naruto frowned. "Kashi-Sensei." Kaminari said crossing her arms and rolling her eyes.

"I wouldn't take away your bell cause then you'd have to go back. I wouldn't do that to my friend." Kaminari blushed slightly.

"But I'm _already_ at a _chunin _level." She said.

"But not a Leaf Chunin!" Naruto said. "Both of us will make it, besides I can beat Kakashi-Sensei. I'm just hungry." Naruto crossed his arms and his one free leg. He opened his eyes and noticed something. "Hey, what are those things down there?" Kaminari looked over to where he was looking. "Ah! I know what those things are, those are boxed lunches. Huh ohh, a ninja must see through deception. Hmm." Naruto giggled. Kaminari took out a kunai and cut the rope holding Naruto up. He yelled in surprise but landed on his feet. "Eh heh, thanks." He said with a smile blushing in embarrassment, scratching the back of his head.

* * *

Naruto laughed as he sat in front of the lunches with chopsticks between his hands. Kaminari stood nearby and shook her head at him.

"Sensei told us that if we don't get a bell then we don't get any lunch but if I eat my lunch now then there's nothing he can do. It's chow time!"

"Hi there."

"Gaaah!" Naruto exclaimed. Kakashi was crouched on top of the stone behind Naruto. "I was just joking sensei."

"Nice try." Kakashi said. Kaminari giggled. He looked at her. "Shouldn't you be more on your guard?" He asked.

"I'm not taking her bell." Naruto said. "I don't wanna fight Kami-Chan."

"If you don't then you fail." Kakashi said.

"But I-"

"Come on." Kaminari said taking a few steps back.

"You're not afraid of her are you?" Kakashi asked.

"Wha-?! No-!"

"Then fight her."

"It's okay Naruto." Kaminari said taking a few more steps back. Naruto frowned.

"But I don't wanna fight you..." He said. Kaminari frowned and Kakashi sighed.

"Then I guess I will." He said. The two looked at him in shock.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"If you won't take her bell then I will. She'll fail and that why you both can go back to the academy together." Kakashi explained. Naruto looked panicked. If he let Kakashi, a jounin, fight Kaminari, a chunin, then she was sure to lose. But if Naruto, a genin, fought her then she would probably win and Kakashi would leave them alone.

"Fine I'll fight her." Naruto said. Kakashi smirked under his mask and smiled with his eyes.

"Great. Don't hold back Nari-Chan." Naruto swallowed and ran at Kaminari. She simply side-stepped as he reached for her bell.

"Huh?" Naruto lost his balance and almost fell over. He went to grab it again and she dodged by side-stepping again. "Stand still Kami-Chan." Naruto whined. Kakashi sweat-dropped seeing this happen a few more times. Naruto glared at the bell.

"You're not fighting." Kaminari said.

"Huh?"

"You're trying to get the bell; you're not fighting me though."

"But K-Kami-Chan, I don't wanna hurt you." Naruto said quietly, glancing at Kakashi who was reading his book. Naruto looked back at Kaminari and took a step back in surprise. "Ah-." He swallowed. Kaminari had a dark look on her face as she glared at him. He'd never seen her look so angry at him before, sure she would get annoyed at him but never genuinely angry.

"I am not weak." She said.

"I-I never said you were." Naruto said as he quickly waved his hands in front of him. The look on her face was starting to make him a bit nervous.

"You implied it." She said lowly, in an almost growl. She clenched her fists and her knuckles cracked.

"N-No I didn't!" Naruto said. Kaminari took a step towards him and he took one back. Kaminari stopped.

"A-Are you afraid of me?" She asked just above a whisper, her eyebrows coming together as she tilted her head to the side.

"N-No-!"

"Kaminari!" Kaminari looked over at Kakashi. He had lowered his book and was looking at them. Kaminari looked back at Naruto and saw his expression. She swallowed and turned away. Suddenly the timer went off. Naruto made a surprised noise and Kaminari looked over to see him being tied to the middle post by Kakashi. Within a few minutes Sasuke and Sakura came out of the woods and sat by Naruto.

* * *

Naruto was tied to the center post, Sakura sitting on the ground to his left and Sasuke on the ground by his right. Kaminari sat on the top of the left post above Sakura. Three lunch boxes were on the ground in front of the three. Kakashi stood in front of them as their stomach's growled.

"Uh-oh, stomachs growling huh?" Kakashi asked. "That's too bad. Oh, by the way, about this exercise. " Kakashi pointed one finger up. "Well, I've decided, I won't send any of you back to the academy." Naruto had a happy grin and Sakura looked dumbfounded.

"What? I passed? All I did was faint and fall over. Do you get points for that?" Sakura asked.

"Hmph." Was Sasuke's response. Sakura jumped up cheering.

"Yaaaay!"

"Then then-! That means all three of us- I mean all three of us-!" Naruto said excitedly. Kakashi smiled with his eyes.

"Yes, all three of you are being dropped from the program." Sakura stopped jumping and cheering and Naruto's face dropped. "_Permanently_." Naruto started kicking his feet.

"Drop us from the program?! That means we can never become ninja! You said if we couldn't take the bells we'd be sent back to the academy! You can't just change your mind and kick us out! Why would you do that?!"

"Because you don't think like ninja; you think like little kids, like brats." Kakashi said. Sasuke glared and gritted his teeth. He suddenly got up and ran at Kakashi.

"Sasuke!" Sakura called. Sasuke was on the ground in seconds with Kakashi sitting on his back, a foot on his head and his left arm being held by Kakashi's left hand.

"You think it's all about you." Kakashi said.

"Let go of Sasuke, you can't step on him like he's some bug!" Sakura shouted. Kaminari scoffed, amused. Sakura looked up at her and glared.

"You don't know what it means to be a ninja; you think it's a game, huh? Why do you think we put you on squads? Did you consider that question for one moment?" Kakashi asked.

"Uh- I don't know what you mean." Sakura said. Kaminari sighed and looked away from the four and watched some clouds. She understood Kakashi's point and couldn't understand how these kids were so dense that they didn't see it. It was the simplest thing. They're in _teams_ of three for a reason.

"I _mean_, you never realized what this exercise is all about. Not even close."

"What it's about?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, that's what determines whether you pass or fail."

"But that's- I mean I wanted to ask you about that from the beginning." Sakura said.

"Cheh- Use your head." Kakashi said. "_Three _people on a squad, _why_ do you _think_ we would do that?"

"Ahhh! How are we supposed to know why you picked three people? We didn't make the rules!" Naruto shouted.

"It's so basic." Kakashi said. "_Teamwork_."

"Just working together? Is that what you mean?" Naruto asked. Kaminari resisted the urge to face palm. She never thought Naruto to be so dumb when the answer was so simple.

"That's what I mean. It's too late now but if all three of you had come at me, you _might_ have been able to take them." Kakashi leaned up. "_Two_ of you could have gone at Kaminari and that would've counted too. Well, anyway, it's over."

"You set it up with three people but only two bells!" Sakura said. "If we work together and got the bells only two of us could keep them and that would lead to group conflict and the squad would break up."

"Exactly." Kakashi said annoyed. "I purposefully pitted you against each other."

"Huh?" Naruto looked just as confused as Sakura.

"I wanted to see if you could overcome that and put the squad ahead of yourselves. A genin should have a natural feel for teamwork. But you, it never even crossed your mind. Sakura!" She stood straight. "You obsessed about Sasuke who was gone while Naruto was right in front of you and you wouldn't lift a finger to help him." Sakura blushed slightly and lowered her head in shame. "Naruto! You do everything on your own. _Everything. _You even refused Kaminari's help." Naruto closed his eyes tightly. "And you Sasuke, you thought the others were _so_ far beneath you they were worthless." Kakashi looked up. "Arrogance. Ninja missions are carried out in squads, of course you need individual skills but teamwork is the most essential element. Every shinobi understands this, when individuals put themselves above the squad this can lead to failure and death." Kakashi reached into his weapons pouch and took out a kunai. "For example, Sakura, " Kakashi put the kunai against Sasuke's neck. "Kill Naruto now or Sasuke dies." Both were shocked and Naruto looked from Kakashi to Sakura and back his eyes wide. "That's what happens on a mission." Kakashi said before taking the kunai away.

"Oh boy, that was really scary." Sakura said. Naruto let out a sigh of relief. Kakashi twirled the kunai around his finger.

"The enemy takes a hostage and you've got an impossible choice and someone ends up dead." He caught the kunai and put it away. He got up off Sasuke and walked away. "On every mission your life is on the line." Sasuke didn't get up for a moment. "Did you look at this stone?" Kakashi asked. He walked up to the monument. "The names engraved on it?" He stopped in front of it. "They are all ninja who are honored as heroes in our village."

"That's it that's it that's it!" Naruto said. "Now I know. I've decided I'm gunna have my name engraved on that stone. I'm not gunna live and die for nothing like a dog, I'm gunna be a hero! A Hero!" Kakashi glanced back at him.

"They are… a special kind of hero." He said.

"Huh? What kind of heroes are they? Come on, tell us." Kakashi didn't answer. "Well well?"

"They're all KIA." Kakashi said. The grin was gone from Naruto's face for a second but then it was back again.

"That sounds real cool." He said.

"It's not _cool_." Kaminari snapped looking down at him. He looked up at her confused.

"It means killed in action." Sakura said. "They all died." Naruto looked stopped smiling and looked sorry.

"This is a memorial stone." Kakashi said. "The names of my closest friends are engraved here." Kaminari looked over at Kakashi's back. Kakashi looked back at them slightly. "Alright, I'm going to give you one more chance." He turned to face them. "But I'm going to make it much harder on you. You'll have three hours to get a bell from either me or Kaminari. Eat lunch now to build up strength. But, Naruto doesn't get any. It's your punishment for breaking the rules and trying to each by yourself. And if anyone tries to feed him that person will immediately fail. I make the rules, you follow them. Got it?" He said before walking away. He stopped and turned his head. "Nari-Chan." He said. Kaminari looked over and hopped down from the post she was on before running over.

* * *

The two walked away from the others. Kakashi sighed.

"Kashi-Sama?" Kaminari tilted her head to the side to look up at him. He looked at her before looking away.

"How've you been?" He asked. A big smile formed on Kaminari's face. Kakashi looked at her. "What are you grinning at?"

"You missed me." She said holding her hands together behind her back. Kakashi chuckled. He put a hand on her head and ruffled her hair.

"Yeah I guess I did." Kaminari frowned in annoyance as she fixed her hair. The two walked in silence for a few more minutes. "Your stomach wasn't growling like the others."

"You just noticed?" Kaminari asked with a smirk. Kakashi closed his eyes.

"You ate breakfast didn't you?"

"Mhm. And I showed up only a few minutes before you did." Kakashi looked at her with amusement in his eye. "I knew you'd be late, Kashi-Sama."

"I wasn't late I was-"

"You were late, Ka-shi-Sa-_ma_." Kaminari said in sing-song tilting her head to either side with each syllable. Kakashi chuckled.

"You know, until your reassigned to a new squad you have to call me sensei."

"Awww." Kaminari crossed her arms. "Fine, Kashi-Sensei." Kakashi chuckled.

"It's a start. Why don't you go back to the others?" Kaminari nodded before running back. Kakashi smiled.

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura were eating their lunches while Kaminari remained atop one of the posts watching the sky. She had brought a lunch but wasn't all that hungry since she'd eaten breakfast around 11. Naruto was still tied to the center one. His stomach growled loudly and the three looked at him.

"This is no big deal; I can go without eating for days!" Naruto said. "For weeks! Believe it! This is no big deal!" His stomach made more noises. "No problem." He said quieter. Sasuke looked over at Naruto for a moment before holding out his bento box. Naruto looked over with big eyes.

"What? No Sasuke you can't do that." Sakura said. "You heard what the sensei said." She looked around for him.

"Kakashi's gone; we need to get those bells as a team. If Naruto's hungry he'll be weak and ineffective. That hurts the team and jeopardizes the mission."

"Um." Naruto said. Sasuke looked down at her lunch and swallowed. She held out her box to Naruto who looked shocked. Kaminari looked at him and saw he looked happy. Sakura smiled. "Okay, thanks."

"Don't thank me, just hurry up and eat."

"But isn't that your lunch?"

"Uh-I-I'm on a diet." Sakura said. "I-I mean I don't eat as much as Sasuke so er- just take it Naruto!"

"I can't take it! Because I can't move my hands," Naruto said moving his hands, that were against his sides, as best he could. "you gotta feed me!"

"Huh?!" Sakura's eye twitched.

"Hurry up; he could come back any minute." Sasuke said.

"Kam-" Sakura looked up at Kaminari about to tell her to feed Naruto but Kaminari gave her a look. She frowned and turned to Naruto with a growl. "This is one time only! That's it, I'll never do this again, is that clear?" Sakura said.

"Clear as a bell Sakura." Naruto said with a grin. She brought the ball of rice to his mouth with her chop sticks. "Ah-mm." Suddenly there was a huge puff of smoke that started swirling around and Kakashi came out of it.

"YOU!" Naruto started freaking out. "You broke the rules." He stood up. "I hope you're ready for the punishment." Kakashi did a bunch of hand signs and clouds over head darkened and lightning flashed. Kaminari rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to laugh. "Any last words?" Sasuke glared and Sakura was cowering with her hands holding her head, whimpering.

"U-Uh what you said." Naruto said.

"Yes?"

"You said that there were three of us! That's what you said and that's why-! Sakura and-" Naruto looked at Sasuke who looked back.

"We're all on this squad and we're all in it together." Sasuke said. Sakura stopped cowering and stood up.

"Yeah that's right!" She said "We gave our lunch to him because the three of us are one!"

"Uh- Yeah yeah yeah yeah! Believe it! That's right!"

"The three of you are one? That's your excuse?" Kakashi came over and leaned over with his hands on his sides. He smiled with his eyes. "Hm, you pass."

"Huh?"

"Huuh?"

"You. Pass." Kakashi repeated.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked. "How'd we pass?"

"You're the first squad that ever succeeded." Kakashi said as the clouds went away and the sun shined brightly. "The others did exactly what I said and fell into every trap. They couldn't think for themselves." Kakashi stood. "A ninja must see through deception. In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum that's true but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum."

"He's-uh ya know- he's kinda cool." Naruto said looking like he was going to cry.

"The exercise is over." Kakashi said. "Everyone passes; squad seven starts its first mission tomorrow." He gave a big thumbs up.

"Yes!" Sakura cheered.

"I did it I did it! Believe it! I'm a ninja! Ninja! Ninja!"

"Let's go home." Kakashi said. Sakura and Sasuke started to follow Kakashi as he left and Naruto squirmed against the ropes.

"I knew they'd do this; it happens every time, believe it! Errr! You guy's forgot to untie meeee!"

"Calm down, Naruto." Naruto stopped and looked up to see Kaminari was still on top of the other post. She jumped down from hers and cut Naruto's ropes as she landed.

"Uhh." Naruto blinked and looked at her as she put her kunai away. "Thanks Kami-Chan." He said scratching the back of his head.

"Come on, it's your turn to pay for ramen." She said as she started walking away. She stopped and looked back. "Unless… you don't want to." She said.

"Of course I do, come on!" Naruto said with a grin. He grabbed Kaminari's hand, making her eyes widen, and started running.

"N-Naruto!" Naruto laughed as he and Kaminari ran past the others. Kakashi smirked under his mask at the two while the other genin rolled their eyes.

* * *

**Very long chapter, almost 5,000 words. Next is the C rank mission (for a few chapters) then a flash back chapter then Kaminari will join a new team and I'll try to make a good sized chapter for that. **

**^_^ thanks for reading.**


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its plot/characters. I only own my OCs and my plot and any changes made to the plot of the anime.**

**I have up to almost chap 11 typed up. I hate to say that for chapter 5-8 it's the Land of Waves Arc. **

**Flash back chapter is going to be chapter 9. Chapter 8 has a big thing with Kaminari to make up for all the Land of Waves Arc written. **

** It's kinda depressing to see that out of about 306 visitors only 56 kept reading to chapter 4.(as of yesterday) I know the story isn't good, I'm trying. **

* * *

******IMPORTANT PLEASE READ: ****Okay this has been a problem lately so let me explain something. Kaminari is a chunin in rank in another village becasue of something that isn't present currently.**

******In other words, she is currently a genin level just like the others. Some outside force/something about her made her chunin but it's not present until Chapter 8. If you're going to stop reading because she's not fighting, skip to chapter 8 and maybe 9 then decide if you wanna stop.**

******I would explain this better but it would be a big spoiler. **

* * *

Kaminari sighed, looking up at the clouds over head. She couldn't believe she was doing this; she was at a chunin level, she shouldn't be doing stupid things like this.

"Sasuke, I'm at point B." Sasuke said over a radio.

"Sakura, I'm at point C."

"Kaminari, point D." Kaminari said sounding bored.

"Naruto, I'm at point A, believe it."

"You're slow Naruto." Kakashi said. "Okay squad seven, hm? The target has moved, follow it!" A shadow flashed through the trees and the three genin followed it. They were all in or around the same tree.

"Over there." Naruto said. They moved to stand behind different trees.

"What's your distance from the target?" Kakashi asked.

"Five meters." Naruto said. "I'm ready, just give the signal."

"I'm ready too." Sasuke said.

"So am I." Sakura said.

"Okay… now!" Kakashi said. The three moved and Naruto grabbed the brown cat as Kaminari appeared.

"I got him I got him!" Naruto shouted holding the cat at arm's length as it struggled.

"Can you verify ribbon on right ear?" Kakashi asked. The cat got free from Naruto's grip and started to scratch him all over.

"Affirmative we got a positive ID." Sasuke said. Kaminari picked up the cat to stop it from scratching Naruto even more. The cat settled down in her arms after she stroked its head a few times. The cat hissed at Naruto who glared back.

"Right, lost pet Tora captured. Mission accomplished." Kakashi said.

"Can't we get a better mission than this?! I hate cats!" Naruto shouted into the radio causing feedback.

* * *

m

Kaminari cringed at the woman holding Tora, who was whining, and rubbing her face against the cat's head.

"Oh, my poor little Tora, mommy was so worried about her naughty little fuzzy kitty. Yes." Naruto laughed.

"Stupid cat, that kitty deserves to be squashed." Naruto snickered.

"No wonder he ran away." Sakura said quietly.

"Now then," The third Hokage looked at a paper. "For squad seven's next mission we have several available tasks. Huh, among them babysitting the chief councilor's three year old, helping his wife to do the shopping, digging up potatoes-"

"NOO!" Naruto shouted. He held his arms up as a big X. "I wanna go on a real mission. Something challenging and exciting not this little kid stuff! Come on old man!" Iruka stood up from his spot beside the Hokage, putting his hands on the table in front of him, and shouted.

"How dare you! You're just a brand new genin with no experience! Like everyone else you start with simple missions to develop your skills and prove yourself."

"Are you serious?!" Naruto shouted. "But we have a chunin on our team! And babysitting is not a mission it's just a stupid- AH!" Kakashi punched Naruto's head down.

"Will you put a lid on it?" He asked.

"Naruto." The Hokage said. Naruto popped up to hold his head in pain. "It seems you do not understand the tasks you have been given." Naruto stopped whining. "Listen many different kinds of requests come into our village every day. From babysitting to assassinations. These requests are carefully recorded, analyzed then ranked A, B, C or D depending on their difficulty. We ninja are also ranked by ability. Hokage at the top, jounin, chunin, and genin the bottom. We select the missions and assign them to ninja who have the appropriate skill and experience. And if the mission is successful we receive a fee that supports our village and our work. Since you are untried genin just starting down the shinobi path you are given D level assignments, of course." He held open the D scroll. "Hm?" He noticed that no one was listening to him. The four were listening to Naruto talk.

"So I had this tung-katsu ramen yesterday and I'm thinking miso Ramen today."

"Silence!"

"Oh sorry." Kakashi scratched the back of his head. Naruto turned around, still on the floor.

"You always lecture me like you're my grandfather or something! But I'm not the little brat who used to pull pranks all the time! I'm a ninja now and I want a ninja mission." Naruto turned away with him arms crossed. Iruka chuckled and so did the Hokage.

"Naruto wants us to know that he's not a brat, he's a former brat and he wants a mission… so be it." Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura looked up surprised. "Since you are so determined I'm going to give you a C ranked mission. You'll be body guards on a journey." Naruto turned to look at him.

"Really? YES! Who? Who? Are we guarding a princess or some big-wig counselor?"

"Don't be so impatient. I will bring him in now." The Hokage said. "Send in our visitor." He said louder. The five turned around to the door. It slid open slowly.

"What the-? A bunch of little snot-nosed kids?" The older man who came in took a long drink from a bottle. Naruto stood up. The man leaned against the door frame. "and you the little one with the idiotic look on your face, you really expect me to believe you're a ninja?" Naruto laughed.

"Who's the little one with the idiotic look on his-" Naruto stopped laughing. Sasuke, Kaminari and Sakura stepped closer to him to show him that he was shorter than all of them. "huh, hmmm. I'll demolish you! Let me get my hands on him. Come on your mine. Come 'ere."

"You can't demolish the client Naruto." Kakashi said as he held Naruto back. "It doesn't work that way." The man took another drink.

"I am Tazuna a master bridge builder and I must return to my country. I'm building a bridge there that will change our world and I expect you to get me there safely, even if it means giving up your life."

"Before you leave," The Hokage said. The group looked back at him. "I thought I should let you know that this will be Kaminari's last mission with team seven."

"Wha?!"

"When you return she will join her new team." He said. Naruto looked upset.

"It won't be the last time you see me." Kaminari said to him. "We live in the same building after all." Naruto still looked sad but nodded.

* * *

"YEAH!" Naruto cheered as he turned around to face the village gates. "Alright!"

"What are you getting so excited about, Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"This is the first time I ever left the village. I'm a traveler now, believe it!"

"Hey, am I supposed to trust my life to this runt? He's a joke." Tazuna asked pointing at Naruto who was laughing. Naruto stopped. Kakashi chuckled.

"He's with me and I'm a jounin, and Nari here is at chunin level, so you don't need to worry."

"Hey! Never insult a ninja it's a big mistake and I'm one of the greatest ninja ever! Someday I'm going to be Hokage and you'll look up to me! My name's Naruto Uzumaki, Remember it!"

"Hokage are powerful and wise, you are puny and brainless. The day you become Hokage I'll sprout wings and fly."

"AHH! Shut up! I'm willing to do anything to become Hokage no matter what it takes. And when I do then everyone will have to admit that I'm the top ninja including you!"

"You can become Hokage ten times over and to me you'll still be nobody. A loser."

"ARG! I'm gunna make you pay for that right now!" Naruto said as Kakashi held him back by his backpack. "He let go 'a me! Come back here! Let me have one shot at him. Let me go!"

"I told you, you're supposed to protect your client not attack him."

"I'll show you! That's right, I'm talking to you!" Naruto shouted as Tazuna walked away.

* * *

The group was walking down a dirt was in a horizontal line but Naruto was walking in the front.

"Say, Mr. Tazuna?" Sakura asked

"What is it?"

"Your country is the land of waves right?"

"Yeah what of it?"

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura looked at him. "There are ninja in that country took aren't there?"

"No, there are no ninja in the land of waves. But in other counties there are hidden villages each with their own different customs and cultures, where ninja reside. To the people of this continent the existence of shinobi villages means strength, military strength. In other words, that's how they protect themselves and maintain the balance of power in neighboring countries. The ninja villages are not controlled by any government. They're independent and have equal status. Now a small island like the land of waves has natural protection from the sea so there's no need for a ninja village." Kakashi explained about each of the lands and their hidden villages. "Only the leaders of these hidden villages are permitted the name 'kage' which means shadow. Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Kazekage, Tsuchikage. These are the leaders, the five shadows that reign over thousands of ninja." Sakura gasped happily.

"Then lord Hokage is really important." Then another look came over her face. Naruto had his arms crossed.

"Hey, you all just doubted lord Hokage, didn't you." Kakashi said. "That's what you were thinking."

"Umm." Naruto and Sakura shook their heads.

"Well, anyway." Kakashi put a hand on Sakura's head. "There are no ninja battles in a C ranked mission so, you can relax."

"And we're not gunna run into any foreign enemy ninja or anything like that." Sakura said.

"Not likely." Kakashi said with a chuckle.

* * *

The group was walking and passed by a random puddle. Kakashi looked at it for a moment but didn't give it a thought.

"Kashi-Sensei." Kakashi looked down at Kaminari. "When's the last time it rained?" She asked. Kakashi smiled at her. Suddenly two ninja had appeared from the puddle and attacked.

"What?" Kakashi was trapped by chains.

"Do it!" one of the ninja said and the two pulled until they sliced up Kakashi. His remains fell to the ground with sickly noises. Sakura looked horrified.

"Ka-Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted. Suddenly the two were behind him.

"Now it's your turn." One said. They attacked and Sasuke jumped up. He threw a throwing star and pinned the chain to a tree. The two men looked over as Sasuke threw a kunai through the middle of the shuriken. One tried to move but was pulled back.

"I can't get loose." Sasuke landed one foot on each of the ninja's arms. He put his hand on their arms and kicked both of them in head face. The chain broke from their arms and they ran around. Sakura got in front of Tazuna.

"Stay behind me." She said. One of the ninja went to attack them but Sasuke appeared in front of them. Before the arm could reach them Kaminari kicked the ninja's arm from the side and Kakashi had him in a headlock as well as the other ninja. Naruto looked up, shocked, to see Kakashi and Sakura looked happy too.

"Hi." Kakashi said.

"Huh? But he was-!" Naruto looked over to see a pile of chopped logs. "What? Kakashi-sensei used the replacement jutsu."

"Naruto." Kakashi looked at him. "Sorry I didn't help you right away. I didn't mean for you to get hurt. I just didn't think you'd freeze up like that." Kakashi walked over to the others. "Good job Sasuke, very smooth, you too Sakura, nice kick Nari-Chan and you noticed the out of place puddle." Kaminari smiled slightly but then looked over at Naruto who was getting up.

"Hey." Sasuke said to Naruto.

"Yeah?"

"You're not hurt are ya?" Sasuke asked mockingly. "Scaredy cat." Naruto looked pissed.

"Sasuke!-"

"Naruto!" Kakashi said. "Stand still. These ninja have poison in their claws. We need to take it out of you quickly." Naruto looked at the three cuts on his hand. "You have to open the wound and remove it, it's in your blood so don't move around, that spreads the poison. By the way Mr. Tazuna." Tazuna jumped.

"Yeah what?"

"We need to talk."

* * *

Kakashi tied the two ninja to a tree, they were awake.

"They're chunin from the village hidden in the mist." Kakashi said. "Their specialty is relentless attack; they keep fighting no matter what the sacrifice."

"How did you know about our ambush?" One of them asked.

"A puddle, on a clear day, when it hasn't rained in weeks. Nari noticed it.

"In that case, why'd you leave it for the genin to do the fighting?" Tazuna asked.

"I could have taken them out quickly, but then I'd have learned nothing. I had to know who their target was and what they were after."

"Hmm? What are you getting at?" Tazuna asked. Kakashi turned to him.

"This: I wanted to know if they were after us, ninja attacking ninja _or _if they were after you, the master bridge builder. When you put in your request you asked for standard protection from robbers and highway men. You didn't say there were ninja looking for you, hunting you down. If we knew this it would be a B rank mission or higher. Our task was simply to get you to destination and protect you while you finished building your bridge. If we knew we'd be fielding attacks from enemy ninja we would have staffed differently and charged for the cost of a B mission. Apparently you have your reasons but lying to us is not acceptable. We are now beyond the scope of this mission."

"We're genin; this is too advanced for our level of training." Sakura said. "We should go back. And I really think we need to treat Naruto's wound and get the poison out as soon as possible. Back in our village we can take him to a doctor."

"Hmm?" Kakashi looked over and saw Naruto holding his hand and staring at it. Naruto looked over noticing his look.

"Huh?"

"Naruto's hand could become a problem; I guess we should go back to the village." Naruto looked angry and took out a kunai and put it to his hand before turning away.

"Why am I so different? Why am I always- errr!"

"Naruto stop that what are you doing?!" Sakura took a few steps towards him.

"Naruto." Kaminari said with a worried face.

"I worked so hard to get here, pushing myself until it hurt, training alone for hours. Anything to get stronger, to reach my dream. I will never back down again and let someone else rescue me. I will never run away. And I will not lose to Sasuke. Upon this wound, I make this pledge, _Believe it. _Bridge builder, I'll complete this mission and protect you with this kunai knife. A real ninja never gives up and neither will I. Don't you guys worry about me, I'll be fine. Now let's go!"

"Uh, Naruto, that was really cool how you took the poison out and all eh- but if you lose any more blood you're going to die." Kakashi said. Naruto looked extremely nervous. "Good idea to stop the bleeding now, seriously." Kakashi said with an eye smile.

"No no no! I'm too young for it to all end like this!" Naruto shouted shaking his arm around. "No no no!"

"Show me your hand." Kakashi said.

"No help no!" Naruto wouldn't stand still but gave Kakashi his hand. "Nooo."

"Naruto, you've got a self-abusive personality." Sakura said. "It's called masochism." Kakashi looked at Naruto's hand and saw the wound was already starting to heal.

"Um-umm."

"Hm?" Kakashi looked up.

"You have a really serious look on your face." Naruto said. "You're scarring me, am I okay?"

"Uh yeah, you should be fine." Kakashi said wrapping the wound anyway.

* * *

Kaminari let her fingers graze against the water as the group took a small boat across the water.

"This fog's so thick, you can't see anything." Sakura said.

"The bridge isn't far now." The man guiding the boat said. "Our destination's just ahead, the land of waves." Naruto looked up, which cause the others to look up, and saw the unfinished bridge.

"Whoa! It's huge!" Naruto shouted.

"Wha- quite! I told you no noise." The man said. "Why do you think we're traveling like this huh? Cutting off the engine and rowing, moving through the dense fog. So they don't see us." Naruto had his hands over his mouth.

"Mr. Tazuna." Kakashi said. "Before we reach the pier, I want to ask you something. The men who are after you, I need to know why. If you don't tell us I'm afraid I'll have to end this mission when we drop you ashore."

"I have no choice but to tell you." Tazuna said raising his head slightly. "No, I want you to know the truth. Like you said this is beyond the scope of the original mission. The one who seeks my life is a very short man who casts a very long and deadly shadow."

"A deadly shadow? Hm.. who is it?"

"You know him or at least I'm sure you've heard his name before. He's one of the wealthiest men in the world. The shipping magnet Gato."

"Huh? Gato? Of Gato transport? He's a business leader, everyone knows him." Kakashi said surprised.

"Who who what what?" Naruto asked.

"Gato, is a very powerful tycoon from a famous company that's true but below the surface with the same ruthless methods he uses to take over businesses and nations he sells drugs and contraband using gangs and ninja. It was one year ago when Gato first set his sights on the land of waves. He came to our island and used his vast wealth take total control of our transport and shipping. Anyone who tried to stand in his way simply disappeared. In an island nation a man who controls the sea controls everything. Finance, government, our very lives. But there's one thing he fears: the bridge. When it is complete, it will join us to the land and that will break his control. I am the bridge builder." He looked up at the bridge.

"So that's it." Sakura said. "Since you're in charge of the bridge, you're standing in this gangster's way."

"That means those guys we fought in the forest they were working for Gato." Sasuke said.

"I don't understand." Kakashi said. "If you knew he was dangerous, knew he'd send ninja to eliminate you, why did you hide that from us?"

"Because the land of waves is a small impoverished nation." Tazuna explained. "Even our nobles have little money. The common people who are building this bridge they can't pay for an A or B ranked mission; it's too expensive. If you end the mission when you drop me ashore there will be no bridge. They'll assassinate me before I reach home. But, don't feel bad about that of course my sweet little grandson will be upset he'll cry:" Tazuna raised his voice in pitch. "Granddad! I want my granddad!" He said before returning his voice to normal. "Oh and my daughter will condemn the ninja of the hidden leaves denouncing and blaming you for abandoning her father and living her life in sorrow. Ah well, it's not your fault, forget it. The five sighed. Kakashi tapped on his headband before looking at Tazuna.

"Well, I guess we have no other choice." Kakashi said. "we'll have to keep guarding you."

"Ohh, I'm very grateful."

* * *

"We're approaching the shore." The boat man said. "Tazuna, we've been very fortunate, no one has noticed us so far."

"Nice going." Tazuna said. The boat entered the tunnel that had lights lining the top. They exited the tunnel and it looked much different. It was brighter with no fog. There were trees that were in the water and village buildings could be seen. The boat stopped at a small dock where everyone got off.

"That's as far as I go." The boat man said. "Good luck."

"Right, thank you for taking such a risk." Tazuna said.

"Just be careful." The boat man started up the engine and drove away.

"Okay," Tazuna turned to face the five. "Take me to my home and I mean get me there in one piece."

"Right." Kakashi said they started walking.

* * *

As they group walked Naruto was more in the front of them. Sasuke walked to pass him and Naruto looked annoyed then ran ahead, making everyone stop, and looked around.

"Over there!" Naruto threw a kunai into bushes making everyone look shocked.

"Hm. It was just a mouse." Naruto said standing up straight and fixing his headband.

"Mouse? Yeah right everyone can see through your stupid act you're so obvious it's embarrassing."

"Naruto, those are kunai knifes," Kakashi said. "They're dangerous."

"Stop tryin' ta scare me you dopey little dwarf!" Tazuna shouted.

"Hey is someone hiding over there?" Naruto asked. "No, they're over there. Hey hey… huh huh. Over there!" Naruto threw another kunai.

"That's it Naruto!" Sakura came over and hit the back of his head.

"Why'd ya do that? Someone is following us I mean it!"

"Yeah right." Sakura said. "Quit lying and acting like a dumb kid." Kakashi looked past the bushes to see a poor scared bunny that almost got his with the kunai that was stuck in the tree between its ears. Naruto and Sakura looked over at it. "Naruto look what you did!"

"A rabbit! AH!" Naruto rushed over to it. "Oh I'm sorry little rabbit I'm sorry." Naruto picked it up and held it.

"All this fuss over a rodent?" Tazuna asked. Kaminari frowned and looked from the rabbit to Kakashi.

"Kashi." She said. He looked over at her and nodded once. Suddenly Kakashi turned around.

"Look out!" He shouted as a sword was thrown at them. Everyone threw themselves to the ground and the sword buried itself high in a tree. A ninja landed on the hilt, his back facing them but his head turned to look at them.

"Well well, if it isn't Zabuza Momochi, rouge ninja from the village hidden in the mist." Kakashi said. Naruto went to run forward but Kaminari grabbed his wrist.

"No Naruto." She said.

"Get back." Kakashi said.

"But why?" Naruto asked.

"He's not like those other ninja. " Kakashi said. "He's in a whole other league. If he's our opponent I'll need this." Kakashi reached up to his headband. "This could be treacherous."

"Kakashi of the Sharingan eye." Zabuza said. "Did I get that right?" Sasuke seemed shocked. "It's too bad huh? That you'll have to hand over the old man."

"Now quick, mangi formation, protect the bridge builder and stay out of this fight." Kakashi said. "I taught you team work, now it's time to use it." Kakashi pulled his headband up and opened his eyes to reveal a scar similar to Kaminari's and his Sharingan. "I'm ready."

"Well, looks like I get to see the Sharingan in action." Zabuza turned to face him. "This is an honor."

"Everyone keeps saying Sharingan, Sharingan will someone please tell me what Sharingan is?" Naruto asked.

"Sharingan, a rare power, it resides in eyes." Sasuke said. "The user of this visual jutsu or doujutsu can instantly see and comprehend any genjutsu taijutsu and ninjutsu and reflect the attack back on the attacker. The Sharingan is a special, rare, form of doujutsu. However, there's more to the Sharingan than that, a lot more."

"You got it right boy." Zabuza said. "But you only scratched the surface. The Sharingan can analyze an opponent's technique and then copy it to the smallest detail." A fog started to roll in. "As for you jounin in the assassination unit of the hidden mist we had a standing order to destroy you on sight. Your profile is in our bingo book. They call you the man who copied over a thousand jutsu: Kakashi the Copy Ninja."

"Wow that's so cool." Naruto said.

"Enough talking." Zabuza said crouching on the hilt of the sword. "I need to exterminate the old man. _Now_." The three genin and Kaminari got in front of Tazuna with their kunai out. "So I'll have to eliminate you first, eh Kakashi. So be it." Zabuza pulled his sword out of the tree and vanished for a moment but was standing 20 meters away.

"He's over there!" Naruto shouted.

"Standing on the water." Sakura said. The water picked up and swirled around him then he was gone.

"He vanished." Naruto said. Kakashi walked over.

"Sensei." Sakura said.

"He'll come after me first." Kakashi said.

"But, who is he?" Sakura asked.

"Zabuza Momochi the ex-leader of the hidden mist assassination unit. He's a master of the silent killing technique."

"S-silent?" Naruto asked.

"As the name suggests, it happens in an instant, without sound or warning of any kind. It's so fast you pass from this life without realizing what has happened. The Sharingan cannot fully naturalize it. So don't lower your guard. Well if we fail we only lose our lives."

"Kashi." Kaminari said in a slight whine.

"How can you say that?" Sakura asked.

"The mist is getting thicker and thicker." Naruto said.

"The land of waves is surrounded by ocean; the swirling mists are ever present." Tazuna said. The fog had become so thick that Kakashi was hidden.

"Sensei." Sakura said.

"Eight points." Zabuza said from the mist.

"What's that?"

"Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, Subclavian artery, kidneys, heart. Now which will be my attack point?" Kakashi suddenly made a hand sign and his chakra blew away the fog in their area.

"Sasuke, calm down." Kakashi said. "I'll protect you with my life, all of you. I will not allow my comrades to die." Kakashi turned his head to look at them with an eye smile. "Trust me."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Zabuza said. Suddenly he was between the ninja and Tazuna. "It's over." Kakashi turned around and jumped at Zabuza and ended up stabbing him with a kunai before he could attack as the others jumped out of the way. Water dripped out from the wound. Suddenly another Zabuza was behind Kakashi.

"Sensei! Behind you!" Naruto warned, pointing. The first Zabuza turned into water and the real one swung at Kakashi and cut him in half but then Kakashi turned into water too. Zabuza's eyes widened. Suddenly there was a kunai against his neck.

"Don't move." Kakashi said. "Now it's over." The other five in the group looked on in slight shock. "You're finished."

"Huh—alright!" Naruto cheered. Sakura giggled. Zabuza chuckled making Kakashi confused.

"Finished?" Zabuza asked. "You really don't get it do you? Your technique is nothing but a crass imitation. I'll never be defeated by a mere copycat ninja like you." He chuckled more. "You are full of surprises though. You'd already copied my water clone jutsu when you made your little speech. Very skillfully executed, you made your clone say those words to draw my attention, while you hit in the mist waiting for me to make my move. Nice try," Zabuza was behind him. "but I'm not that easy to fool." The clone turned to water.

"Hey that one's a clone too!" Naruto shouted. Kakashi looked behind him as Zabuza swung and he was able to duck. Zabuza put the sword in the ground then kicked Kakashi and sent him flying.

"Now!" Zabuza grabbed his sword and started running. He stopped suddenly seeing spikes on the ground. "Try to slow me down, hmph, foolish." Kakashi fell into the water.

"Sensei!" Naruto shouted.

"Kashi!"

"He has great physical skill too." Sasuke said. Kakashi came half way out of the water.

"Fool." Zabuza stood behind him and made hand signs. "Water prison jutsu!" He shouted. A ball of water trapped Kakashi. Zabuza kept a hand inside it. "So much for the great Kakashi, I'll finish you off later, but first your little friends will have to be eliminated." He brought a hand up in a sign. "Water clone jutsu." Water clones came out of the water. "You think wearing a head band makes you a ninja. When you've hovered between life and death so many times it doesn't faze you then you may be called a ninja. When you've become so deadly a profile is entered in my bingo book then you may have earned the title ninja. But to call upstarts like you ninja is a joke." He vanished again and suddenly appeared to kick Naruto back. Naruto's headband flew off his head and landed on the ground before Zabuza stepped on it. "You're just brats." Sasuke looked shocked and Sakura looked concerned.

"Naruto!" Sakura called. Kaminari clenched her fists.

"Listen!" Kakashi called form inside the water, his voice all distortable. "Get the bridge builder and run! You can't win this fight! He's using all this power to keep me in this prison so he can only fight you with his water clone. The water clone can't go far from his real body if you get away from him he can't follow. Now run!" Kakashi shouted.

"We've got to do it." Sasuke said after having a conversation in his head. Sasuke ran forward. Zabuza reached for his sword as Sasuke threw multiple shuriken. Zabuza swung at the projectiles and Sasuke jumped up and over before coming down as Zabuza looked up. "Now!"

"Too easy." Zabuza said before grabbing Sasuke by the neck. He threw him to the side.

"Sasuke no!" Sakura shouted.

"He got Sasuke." Naruto said. He turned back to look at Zabuza, shaking in terror. Naruto move to get away but the moment he put his wrapped hand on the ground he stopped. He looked down at his hand. He looked up then looked at his headband, which Zabuza was still stepping on. He got up slowly clenching his fist before running at Zabuza with a yell.

"Huh? Naruto no!" Kakashi shouted.

"Ahh!" Sakura screamed. "Naruto what in the world are you doing?!"

"Fool." Zabuza said amused he easily kicked Naruto back.

"What are you thinking charging at him by yourself?!" Sakura shouted at him. "Even Sasuke couldn't get to him! We're only genin, we can't defeat a jounin! What did you think you'd accomplish by that?!" Naruto started to get up and Sakura looked shocked to see that he'd gotten his headband back. Naruto stood up painfully, there was blood trickling out of his mouth.

"Hey you," He said. "freak with no eyebrows, put this in your bingo book: The ninja that will become Hokage of the village hidden in the leaves," He stood up straight and put his headband back on. "He never backs down." Naruto pulled his headband tight and looked up. "His name's Naruto Uzumaki. Aright Sasuke, listen up, can you hear me?"

"Yeah I hear you." Sasuke said.

"I've got a plan."

"So you're finally thinking about teamwork huh?" Sasuke asked. Naruto wiped the blood from his mouth.

"Alright now guys, let's go wild!" Everyone was still, Sakura and Kaminari stood in front of Tazuna while Sasuke and Naruto were a few feet ahead. "Okay ready?" Naruto asked. "Let's bring this guy down." Zabuza chuckled.

"Big words for such a little man." He said. "You think your plan's going to keep you in the game?"

"What are you doing I told you to run!" Kakashi shouted. "This fight was over the moment I got caught! Now take off! Your mission is not to prove how brave you are, it's to save the bridge builder! Stay on mission!"

"Huh." Naruto looked back. "Bridge builder?

"Well I… I guess this all happened because of me." He said. "Because of my desire to live. But I won't let that stand in your way now." He raised his head. "Forget about me and do what you have to do. Go ahead and fight to save your sensei!"

"Hmm, alright ya hear that?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah, believe it, you ready?" Naruto asked. Zabuza started chuckling then full out laughing.

"You really haven't learned anything, have you?" He opened one arm to the side. "This playing your little game. Pretending to be ninja." He brought his hand up and looked at it. "When I was your age this hand had already crushed many opponents." The three genin and Tazuna looked shocked while Kaminari swallowed with her eye brows together.

"Zabuza, the demon." Kakashi said looking at the real one.

"Oh so I was in your book too, huh?"

"Long ago in the village hidden in the mist also known as blood mist village, before a student could become a ninja there was one final test."

"Hmm, do you know about the graduation exam?" Zabuza asked him.

"What graduation exam?" Naruto asked. Zabuza chuckled. "What's the big deal anyway? We had graduation tests too." Zabuza kept chuckling.

"Did you have to annihilate the other students to pass?" He asked. Naruto froze. "Imagine young ninja like you, eating together, training together and then comes the final exam only the rules changed; you couldn't stop until you destroyed your opponent. It was your friend, who shared your dreams, now it's him or you." Sakura looked terrified.

"That's so cruel." She said.

"Ten years ago in the village hidden in the mist the graduation exam changed; one year before a dark evil had filled the school with terror." Kakashi said.

"What's he saying?" Sakura asked, confused. "What evil? What kind of change? What caused the terror?"

"Without pause or hesitation a young boy who was not even a ninja approached the class and took down over a hundred of their students."

"It… it felt so.. _good_." Zabuza said freaking the genin out. Suddenly he elbowed Sasuke in the gut sending him flying. Once he hit the ground he brought his elbow down again on Sasuke's ribs.

"Sasuke!" Sakura called Zabuza put his foot on Sasuke's stomach and put his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"You're nothing."

"Stop right there!" Naruto shouted doing a hand sign. "Shadow clone jutsu!" A bunch of Narutos surrounded Zabuza. He looked around at them. They all took out kunai and spoke in unison. "Here we go!" Zabuza had gotten off of Sasuke allowing him to sit up while Naruto attacked. They dog piled on top of him. The pile shook before the clones went flying.

"His skills are too advanced." Tazuna said. "He's too powerful there's no way to defeat him." The shadow clones poofed away as they slide across the ground.

"I'm not giving up, I've still got this!" Naruto shouted as he reached in his bag while sliding across the dirt. He threw something to Sasuke. "Sasuke!" Sasuke grabbed it and spun around holding the weapon.

"Demon wind shuriken!" Sasuke said holding the weapon open so it looked like a plus sign. "Windmill of shadows."

"A shuriken?" Zabuza asked, taking his hand on the hilt of his sword. "You'd never touch me with that." Sasuke jumped up and threw it. The shuriken flew past the clone and towards the real Zabuza. "So you passed the clone and aimed for my real body, smart, but not smart enough." He caught the shuriken but there was suddenly another coming at him. "Huh? A second shuriken in the shadow of the first, the shadow shuriken jutsu." Zabuza jumped up just in time, and high enough, so the shuriken went under him safely. "I told you a shuriken can't touch me!" Sasuke smirked. The Shuriken disappeared in a puff of smoke and was replaced with Naruto. "What?!"

"Eat this!" Naruto shouted as he threw a kunai.

* * *

**This chapter is way too long but there's a lot of the Land of Waves Arc I have to get through. I'll probably post the next chapter later tonight then the next tomorrow then the next on Sunday. I wanna get chapter 8 and 9 posted cause that has big original things.**

**Hope everyone still likes this. **


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its plot/characters. I only own my OCs and my plot and any changes made to the plot of the anime.**

**Don't give me hell for Kaminari not fighting in the battle cause Sakura didn't do shit either.**

**Also I think I'm going to make this story have slight Gaara/OC in it too.**

**Little note: Everything written in this chapter (and the next) is intentional. Meaning anyone ignoring or 'putting down' Kaminari was supposed to happen. I didn't forget to add the characters interacting with her, I did it on purpose. You'll see why soon.**

******IMPORTANT PLEASE READ:** Okay this has been a problem lately so let me explain something. Kaminari is a chunin in rank in another village becasue of something that isn't present currently.

** In other words, she is currently a genin level just like the others. Some outside force/something about her made her chunin but it's not present until Chapter 8. If you're going to stop reading because she's not fighting, skip to chapter 8 and maybe 9 then decide if you wanna stop.**

**********I would explain this better but it would be a big spoiler. **

* * *

Naruto threw the kunai and Zabuza took his hand out of the water prison to avoid being hit but ended up getting a cut under his right eye. The water prison collapsed causing Kakashi to fall into the water below and Zabuza spun the shuriken he still had in his other hand.

"I'll destroy you!" There was a splash of blood as Kakashi stopped the spinning with his hand. Naruto fell into the water. Kakashi glared at Zabuza making his eyes widen. Sakura gasped happily.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto came out of the water gasping.

"Naruto, that was an excellent plan." Kakashi said. "You've really grown, haven't you?" Naruto laughed.

"I knew I couldn't beat him with my shadow clones, that was just to distract him. While he fought the clones I turned into the demon wind shuriken. He didn't know what to do, believe it! I used one of the clones to transform into the shuriken and when I threw it to Sasuke it looked like a real shuriken. Sasuke could tell it was me in a second. He spun around so now one could see and pulled out his own shuriken. Now there were two shuriken; one was real one was _me_. I hid in the shadow of the read shuriken and my target was the real Zabuza of course I knew that I couldn't fight Zabuza myself, that wasn't in the game plan. I just wanted to get in there and break up his water prison. I didn't know his clone would be wreaked too. Ha! That was a bonus, believe it!"

"Don't brag, you just lucked out." Sasuke said.

"The whole thing was just a fluke!" Tazuna shouted.

"Haa… I got distracted and lost my grip on the water prison." Zabuza said.

"Don't flatter yourself." Kakashi said. "You weren't distracted, you were forced to let go."

"Huh." Naruto giggled in the water still.

"Your technique worked on me once," Kakashi said. "But it won't work again."

"Huh."

"So what's it gunna be?"

"Sakura you know what to do." Sasuke said to her. She nodded. The two of them put their arms out to block Tazuna. Zabuza grunted.

"Huh?" He closed the shuriken and pushed against Kakashi's hand. Kakashi pushed it away sending it flying. The two jumped back off the water away from each other. They landed on the water and Zabuza started reciting hand signs as he did them Kakashi started to mimic him perfectly until they were doing it in sync.

"Water style: Water dragon Jutsu!" They said in unison as two identical water serpents rose from the water and wove themselves together a few times before attacking the other. They created a large wave which pushed Naruto under. Naruto came back up with a gasp and Zabuza was pushing his sword against Kakashi's kunai. They separated and ran around each other. Kakashi made the same moves as Zabuza did.

"He's not just following." Tazuna said. "He moves the same way at the same time."

"How's he doing that?" Sakura asked. "How, Sasuke?"

"Going to do next?" Kakashi asked finishing Zabuza's thought. "It makes you furious doesn't it?"

"Ha, all you're doing is copying me. Like a monkey." Zabuza said.

"You can't beat me with cheap tricks." They said in unison. "I'll crush you."

"When I finish with you you'll never open that monkey mouth again." Zabuza said doing rapid hand signs, Kakashi did the same. A hazy image appeared behind Kakashi which faded into a copy of Zabuza.

"Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!" The Sharingan began to spin.

"What?!" Water spun around Kakashi before becoming a giant vortex and attacking Zabuza. "Impossible! Ahhh!" The water pushed Naruto to shore where he grabbed onto a branch. The vortex pushed Zabuza against a tree and a bunch of kunai were thrown at him and embedded themselves in his arms and legs. Kakashi was in the branch above.

"You're finished." He said. The water retreated back to the lake.

"How?!" Zabuza looked up at Kakashi. "Can you see into the future?"

"Yes." Kakashi said. He raised his kunai. "This is your last battle_ ever_." Suddenly two needles were thrown and ended up in Zabuza's neck, splashing blood out. Everyone looked surprised and looked over to see a masked figure in a tree branch. Zabuza fell over and the figure giggled a rather feminine sounding giggle.

"You were right, it was his last battle." The figure said. Naruto climbed out of the water completely and looked up at the figure before looking down at Zabuza. Kakashi jumped down next to Zabuza. He felt his neck for a pulse and sighed.

"No vital signs." Kakashi said. He looked up at the figure.

"Thank you; I've been tracking Zabuza for a long time," They said bowing. "waiting for this chance to finally take him down."

"By your mask I see that you're a tracker ninja from the village hidden in the mist." Kakashi said.

"Impressive. You're well informed.

"A tracker!" Naruto said sliding to stand in front of his team mates and Tazuna.

"Naruto you don't even know what that is." Sakura said. "You missed the lesson on it as usual. Tracker ninja have a special role, try comin' ta class sometime." Sakura went on to explain about tracker ninja.

"That's correct; I'm a member of the elite tracking unit of the village hidden in the mist." The figure said. "It was my duty to stop Zabuza." Naruto ran forward and looked from Zabuza's body to the boy in the tree.

"What is this? Err! Who do you think you are?" Naruto called up while pointing at the boy. "Did you hear me?"

"Easy Naruto." Kakashi said standing. "He's not our enemy."

"Huh?" Naruto looked at Kakashi. "That's not the point! Did you see what he did just like that? Zabuza was huge and powerful like some kind of monster." Kakashi walked over to Naruto. "And this kid, who's no bigger than me, he brought down Zabuza in one move like it was nothing. I mean what does that make us? We're just fumbling around, we don't know anything. How can I accept that?!" Naruto looked up at Kakashi who stood beside him.

"Well, even if you don't accept it, still" Kakashi leaned down. "It did happen, Naruto." He put a hand on Naruto's head and messed up his hair. "In this world there are kids who are younger than you and yet stronger than me." Naruto just looked annoyed. The boy in the reach stretched out his arm and was gone in a swirl of wind before he reappeared next to Zabuza's body. He lifted him onto his shoulder with one arm around him.

"Your struggle is over for now." The boy said. "I must deal with the remains. There are many secrets in this body, they must not be allowed to get into the wrong hands. Please excuse me." He made a hand sign with one hand. "Farewell." He was gone.

"He disappeared!" Naruto said. Kakashi put his headband back down over his eye. Naruto ran over to where the boy was.

"He's gone Naruto." Kakashi said. "Let it go." Naruto fell to his knees and began to punch the ground.

"What are we doing here?! We're nothing! I can't believe it!"

"Naruto." Sakura said. Kakashi walked over and grabbed Naruto's arm.

"As ninja the things we encounter are never easy. Save your anger for the next enemy." Kakashi let go and Naruto caught his breath. Kakashi turned to face the others. "We haven't completed our mission yet. We still have to get the bridge builder to his bridge." Tazuna laughed.

"Sorry I caused all this trouble for ya, but uh, you can rest at my house when we get to the village."

"Alright, let's get a move on." Kakashi said. Naruto got up as Kakashi started to walk. Kakashi took two steps before freezing and falling over.

"Kashi!" Kaminari called as everyone ran over.

"Wh-what happened?" Sakura asked.

"Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said. "Uh- Kakashi-sensei!" Kaminari got to her knees and felt his pulse.

"Kashi." Kaminari sighed in relief. "He's alive he just exhausted himself. We'll have to carry him the rest of the way." She said looking at the others.

"Leave that to me." Tazuna said as he lifted Kakashi up and put him over his shoulder. "Come on, the village isn't that far."

* * *

The group came to the village and to Tazuna's house. He put Kakashi in a futon and his daughter, Tsunami, looked over him. The group walked into the room a few minutes after Kakashi had woken up. Naruto gasped.

"Look, the sensei's coming around." Naruto said. Sakura came over and kneeled beside Kakashi.

"Listen, sensei, your Sharingan is amazing and everything but if it puts that much strain on you maybe it's not worth it." Sakura said.

"Sorry." Kakashi said.

"Huh, well, he did take down one of the most powerful ninja assassins so we'll be safe for a while." Tazuna said.

"Right but, you know that boy with the mask? What about him?"

"He's from the elite tracking unit of the village hidden in the mist. Those masks are only worn by the most elite shinobi.

"What exactly do they do?" Sakura asked. Naruto, Sasuke and Kaminari all sat down.

"The ANBU black obs, also known as the inferno squad, destroy all traces of a rouge ninja's corpse." Kakashi said. "The shinobi's body contains many secrets: ninjutsu, chakra, special medicines used on his body. These are the secrets of his village. If his enemies find them his people would be in grave danger. For instance, if I were to die at the hands of an enemy he would try to analyze my Sharingan. In the worst case my entire jutsu could be stolen and used against our home village. It is the sacred duty of the shinobi trackers to prevent this. To keep the village secrets safe. If a ninja betrays his village the trackers hunt him down eliminate him and obliterate every trace of his existence. That's their specially." Kakashi said. Kakashi was sitting up and had a hand over his eye.

"Hey are you okay?" Naruto asked. "Sensei."

"Hm? Oh yeah, to finish what I was saying, tracker ninja deal with the body immediately, on the spot, so there's no room for error."

"Is that, really important?" Sakura asked.

"Think about it, do you remember what that tracker did with Zabuza's body.

"We don't know what he did." Sakura said.

"He took it away." Kaminari said.

"Exactly, but why?" Kakashi asked. "He should have worked on Zabuza right there. As quickly as possible think of the weapons he used for the take down. Do you remember what they were?"

"Throwing needles." Sasuke said. "No way."

"Exactly." Kakashi said. "None of it adds up."

"What are you all yammering about, you demolished that assassin." Tazuna said.

"Here's the truth:" Kakashi said. "Zabuza's still alive."

"HUH!?"

"But we saw his body! Believe it!" Naruto said.

"That doesn't mean he was dead." Kaminari said.

"Kakashi sensei you checked him yourself you said that his heart stopped." Sakura said.

"His heart did stop." Kakashi said. "But that was just a temporary state to simulate death. The weapons that tracker used are called senbon they can pierce deeply but rarely kill unless they hit a vital organ, not in the neck. They're modified from needles used for medical treatments like acupuncture. Trackers are trained to know every detail of the human body causing the heart to stop temporarily while keeping the body alive is an easy matter for them. First he carried Zabuza's body away, even though it's much heavier than he is second he used senbon which have a precise affect but are rarely fatal. From these two factors we can conclude that the tracker wasn't trying to destroy Zabuza, he was trying to save him."

"Come on, you're over thinking this aren't you?" Tazuna asked.

"Encountering suspicion the ninja prepares quickly hesitation leads to disaster. Every shinobi knows this saying." Naruto looked excited to hear that Zabuza was still alive.

"Sensei, you said prepare quickly but how can we do that when you can barely move?" Sakura asked. Kakashi chuckled which confused her.

"I can still train you."

"Hold on! A little last minute training won't make us strong enough to fight Zabuza! You could barely defeat him even with your Sharingan. We have to be reasonable about this."

"Sakura, why was I able to stop Zabuza?" Kakashi asked. "Because you all helped me. You've grown. Naruto."

"Huh?"

"You've grown the most." Kakashi said with an eye smile.

"So you noticed, Kakashi-sensei. Now things are gunna get better, believe it."

"I don't believe it and nothing is gunna be good!"

"Huh?" Everyone turned to see a little boy in the door way.

"Who are you?!" Naruto asked pointing at the boy.

"Ahh Inari where've you been?" Tazuna asked. The boy ran over to him.

"Welcome back grandpa!" The boy hugged him.

"Inari that was very rude." His mother scolded. "These ninja helped your grandpa and brought him here safely."

"It's okay, it's okay, I'm rude to them too." Tazuna said.

"Mom don't you see these people are gunna die." Inari said to his mom. "Gato and his men will come back and find them and wipe them out."

"What did you say brat?" Naruto asked jumping up. "Listen up, you know what a super ninja is well that's me only a lot better. I'm gunna be Hokage. This Gato or Blato or whatever he's called is no match for a real hero like me."

"Ha, there's no such thing as a hero. You're just fulla stupid ideas!"

"What'd you say?!" Naruto started to go over to him but Sakura held him back. "Arrrg!"

"Naruto calm down!"

"If you want to stay alive you should go back where you came from." Inari said before walking away.

"Inari, wait, where are you going?" Tazuna asked. Inari opened the door and turned his head.

"To look out at the ocean, I wanna be alone." Inari said before leaving.

"Sorry about that." Tazuna said. Sakura let go of Naruto and he went after the boy. He came back down a few minutes later and looked calmer and sadder.

* * *

The five were outside by some trees.

"Aright training starts now." Kakashi said. He had crutches to help him stay up.

"Right!" Naruto said.

"First." Kakashi help up one finger. "We'll begin with a review of chakra the ninja's basic source of power. Understanding chakra is essential."

"We know that." Sasuke said.

"He's right, a long time ago we learned about…uh catchra" Naruto said.

"Chakra." Kakashi said.

"Uhhh."

"Go ahead Sakura." Kakashi said motioning to the pink headed girl. Kaminari frowned at him. He rolled his eye and lowered his voice to her. "I know you understand this already."

"Alright Naruto, I'll explain it simply so you can understand it." Sakura said. She explain Chakra, the physical type and mind/sprit type and hand signs.

"Right on all points." Kakashi said. "Iruka-sensei really did have some excellent students."

"Ugh, what's the big deal with all these complicated explanations?" Naruto asked. "The whole point is to learn the jutsu isn't it?"

"Naruto's right for once." Sasuke said. "We're already using Chakra energy in our jutsu."

"No, you have not mastered this power you've barely scratched the surface of it." Kakashi said.

"What do you mean!?" Naruto asked.

"Calm down and listen. It's just like Sakura said: you have to draw on physical _and_ spiritual energies and then combined them within yourself. But how do you do that? Each jutsu requires different types of chakra in different proportions. You must select and combine them in exactly the right way. Up to now you've just guessed at the proportions hoping they'd come out right. Even if you produce a lot of chakra unless you can balance and control it it's all worthless. The jutsu won't work at all or it'll just be a joke. You waste so much energy that way then you're out of chakra and you can't fight at all. You're just a target."

"Uh, so how do we change that?" Naruto asked scratching the back of his head with a chuckle.

"Train so hard that controlling your chakra becomes second nature. To achieve this goal you must be ready to put your life on the line." Kakashi said.

"What do we have to do?" Sakura asked. Kakashi chuckled slightly and held one finger up.

"Climb a tree."

"Climb a tree?" The three asked in unison while Kaminari smirked.

"That's right, but there's just one rule." Kakashi lifted his hands slightly "No hands."

"What, you're kidding." Sakura said.

"Am I?" Kakashi asked. "Let's see." Kakashi did a small hand sign before walking over to a tree. He put his foot on the tree then simply walked up it with his crutches.

"He's climbing." Naruto said.

"Straight up." Sakura said. "And he's only using his feet."

"Well you get the idea." Kakashi said, stopping on a branch upside-down. "Focus the chakra towards the soles of your feet and use it to connect to the tree. This is one way to apply the power of chakra."

"Wait a minute, that's a nice trick but how does it help us fight Zabuza?" Sakura asked.

"It's the only way to fight him, Sakura." Kakashi said. "That's the entire goal of this training. First you'll learn to draw a precise amount of chakra to a precise point in body. This is difficult even for advanced ninja. This type of climbing requires a subtle mix of physical and spiritual energy. And the bottoms of the feet are the most difficult points to focus chakra. Are you getting the picture? If you can master this, you'll be able to master any jutsu. Well, theoretically. The second point is to learn to maintain your chakra levels. When a ninja is focused in battle it's even harder to control and maintain his chakra levels a deadly mistake. To avoid this maintaining chakra must become second nature. Effortless. Well I can talk about this all day but that won't advance your skills will it. You need to apply the power of chakra, though training." Kakashi took out three kunai and threw them down to land in front of Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke then a fourth in front of Kaminari. "Use the kunai knife to mark the tree at the highest point you can climb without using your hands, then try to get past that mark the next time and the next. At first you'll need to run at the tree so your momentum can take you as high as possible until you get used to it. Ready?" The four picked up their kunai's.

"I'm more than ready; this is gunna be no sweat all the way. Believe it!" Naruto said. "Remember what you said sensei, I'm the one who's grown the most."

"You're definitely the one who talks the most. Now get focused and do it!" The four made hand sighed and focused.

"I got it. Charge!" They all ran at the tree. Naruto took two steps and fell. Sasuke managed to get a good few meters up and was able to slash the tree before back flipping off. Below the slash mark was a mark where his foot had pressed in too hard.

"That's about what I expected from Sasuke." Kakashi said. "And Naruto."

"Hey this is fun!" Sakura called. She and Kaminari giggled.

"Sakura, Kami-Chan..." Naruto said as the three looked up to see Sakura and Kaminari sitting on a branch together way up in the tree.

"_Well,_ looks like the _female _members of the squad have the most advanced chakra control. Well done Sakura." Kaminari frowned at him and crossed her arms. "Nari-Chan you've already learned this." Kakashi said.

"Yeah way to go Sakura, I always knew you were awesome, believe it!" Naruto said. Kaminari looked down at him with a frown.

"Whatever." Sasuke said. Sakura looked upset.

"At least you impressed _one_ of them." Kaminari muttered before jumping down. She landed on the ground a few feet from Sasuke who looked at her with a glare. She glared back twice as hard before looking away.

"Well not only does Sakura understand chakra she can control and maintain it as well. We spoke about someone becoming Hokage one day, didn't we? Seems Sakura's got the best chance of that. Wouldn't you say? As for the great Uchiha clan maybe they're not so great after all." Kakashi said.

"That's enough, you talk too much sensei!" Sakura called. Kaminari glanced up the tree before walking over to another and leaning against it.

"Alright, first I'll match Sasuke." Naruto said. "Then I'm going all the way to the top, believe it!"

* * *

Soon the three genin were panting or breathing heavily. Sasuke was crouched, catching his breath, while Sakura lay in front of one of the trees as Naruto fell from one and hit his head yet again. He clutched his head in pain and looked up to see his markings weren't that high. Sasuke had only gotten about a meter or two above where he first marked. Naruto stood up with a small yell before going over to Sakura. He crouched in front of her and spoke softly.

"Hey, you're good at this, how 'bout some advice?" He asked. "But please don't tell Sasuke I asked. Please please." Kaminari glared over at Sakura and noticed Sasuke looking at her. She glared coldly at him before walking up the tree she was leaning against and sitting in a very high branch. She took out a kunai and started carving things into the tree. Kakashi looked up at her and frowned slightly. Sasuke looked up the tree Kaminari was in and looked over at Naruto and Sakura who were talking quietly.

"Hey." Sasuke called quietly up the tree. He looked over at the others to see they hadn't heard him and looked back up. "Hey." He said a bit louder. Kaminari looked down and raised one eyebrow. He motioned for her to come do. She sighed and jumped down.

"What?" She asked. He looked over at Naruto and Sakura then back at Kaminari.

"Give me some tips." He said. Kaminari blinked.

"Why don't you go ask Sakura?" Kaminari said looking away.

"Cause you're…" Sasuke said. Kaminari looked back. "You're not that annoying." He said under his breath. Kaminari gave him a look and he rolled his eyes. "Just…"

"Help?" Kaminari asked with a smirk. He gave her a slight glare.

"Yes." He growled. Kaminari smirked more. "Just don't tell Naruto."

"Wasn't planning on it." Kaminari said glancing over to Naruto.

* * *

**So this was about half the length of the last chapter. 7 and 8 are still in The Land of Waves Arc.**

**I might actually post another chapter later if I don't go to bed soon.**


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its plot/characters. I only own my OCs and my plot and any changes made to the plot of the anime.**

**Mr Turtle: I made a point to say why Kaminari wasn't doing anything in the last chapter. The chapter was about Sasuke and Naruto working together. Remember: "Don't give me hell for Kaminari not fighting in the battle cause Sakura didn't do shit either." That's what I said.**

**Kuonoichi doesn't look right in spelling up I looked it up. Also "Haha" in Japanese is mother when talking to your own mother. Okasan is used when talking to someone else's mother.**

**When you see "####" that means that in a flashback/vision Kaminari doesn't hear what someone said. **

**(This is not the flashback chapter this chapter just has a flashback in it)**

* * *

Everyone was seated around the dinner table. Sakura and Kaminari were next to each other at one end, Tazuna at the other. Naruto was to Kaminari's left and Sasuke to Sakura's right. Next to Sasuke was Inari and next to Naruto was Kakashi.

"This is fantastic." Tazuna said. "It's been ages since we had so many guests around our table." Naruto and Sasuke were eating quickly. They both finished their bowls at the same time and stood up before holding them up.

"I want some more." They said in unison before glaring at each other. Then they turned to the side and threw up.

"Don't eat so much if you're gunna puke it up!" Sakura shouted.

"I have to eat." Sasuke said.

"And I have to eat more than him." Naruto said through gritted teeth. "It's the only possible way I'll get strong enough to beat him."

"That's true." Kakashi said while nodding. "But puking won't help you." Kaminari sighed.

"I know boys are competitive but this is ridiculous." She said under her breath. Sasuke glared at her and she rolled her eyes.

* * *

After dinner everyone was drinking tea while Tsunami and Kaminari did the dishes. Kaminari insisted on helping even though Tsunami insisted that she was their guest. Sakura was standing in front of a hanging photo.

"Excuse me, this picture is torn." She said. "Is there some reason for that?" Sakura looked back at the table. "Inari you kept glancing at it all through dinner. It looks like there was someone else in the picture but they got torn out. I mean that's kinda strange isn't it."

"It's my husband." Tsunami said. Kaminari glanced back at the picture and frowned before looking at Inari.

"They used to call him a hero in this land." Tazuna said. Inari got off his chair and went to the door.

"Inari, where are you going?" Tsunami asked. Inari didn't answer and Tsunami went after him.

"Father you can't talk about him like that in front Inari you know that!" She said before going out the door, slamming it behind her. Kaminari sighed.

"Nice going Sakura." She muttered under her breath. The pink haired kuonoichi either didn't hear her or ignored her.

"Inari's so… I mean what happened to him?" Sakura asked.

"Hmm. Is there a story behind this?" Kakashi asked.

"He wasn't his real father; he came into our family later." Tazuna told them. "and he brought to much happiness. He and Inari were very close. In those days, Inari used to laugh all the time." Tazuna clenched his fists. "But then…" Tears fell onto the table. "All that ended; he never laughs or smiles anymore… ever since the day everything changed. The word courage was stolen from this island. We were left feeling powerless, hopeless and Inari suffered the most ever since that day ever since it happened. "

"Tell us." Kakashi said. "What happened to Inari?"

"First you need to know about the man, his father, the man who taught us the word courage." He took off his glasses to wipe his eyes. "Who was a hero in this land."

"A hero, really?" Naruto asked.

"You can decide that for yourself." Tazuna said putting his glasses back on. "He came here about three years ago." Tazuna told the story of how Inari was being bullied and was kicked into water after his dog. Inari didn't know how to swim. "Interestingly enough at that exact moment Pouch figured out how to dog paddle." Tazuna told the group how Inari's father saved him. "His name was Kaiza; a simple fisherman who'd come here from another land to follow his dreams. After that Inari and Kaiza were inseparable. The boy had never known his real father, so you can imagine what it meant to him to have Kaiza in his life. He looked up to him, followed in his footsteps like a real father and son. Kaiza spent more and more time with us until he just natural became a member of our family." Naruto was smiling, resting his chin on his arms, as he listened to Tazuna. "And then when this town needed him, he became something more." Tazuna told about one storm where the flood gate was open. They needed to get it closed so Kaiza swam out and tied a rope to the gate to pull it closed. "From that time on Kaiza was considered a hero in this land. He taught us all the meaning of courage and Inari was so proud to be his son. But it wasn't long after that Gato showed up and took over. He terrorized the whole village, only Kaiza stood up to him. Gato couldn't have a local hero getting in his way. It took his whole gang to stop one man." Gato and his men ended up tying Kaiza to a large log in front of the village and killed him. "Since then Inari's changed, so did Tsunami and all our people. We lost our will." Naruto was frowning into his arms now. He got up and fell onto the floor.

"What are you doing down there, Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"You'd better take the day off, no more training." Kakashi said. "You used too much chakra. If you push any harder it could kill you." Naruto pushed himself up with shaky arms.

"I'm gunna prove it." Naruto said.

"Hm?"

"Prove what?" Sakura asked. Naruto stood on shaky legs.

"I'll prove that- that it's true." Naruto said. "That in this world there are real heroes."

"You're gunna end up hurting yourself." Kaminari said with a frown.

"I'll be fine." Naruto said.

"Narut-" Kaminari frowned as he left.

* * *

The next morning everyone but Naruto and Sakura were in the kitchen. Sakura came down the hallway and entered the kitchen.

"Good morning everyone." Sakura said before yawning. She sat down at the table next to Kaminari who scooted away from her subtly.

"Here." Tsunami said placing some food in front of her.

"Oh thank you."

"Naruto's not here." Tazuna said. "Looks like he was out all night again."

"He's gone completely crazy." Sakura said. "He's out climbing trees in the dark. He could be dead by now. You know, from using up too much of his chakra."

"Well I certainly hope he's okay." Tsunami said. "A child spending the night in the woods alone."

"There's nothing to worry about." Kakashi said. "Naruto's a kooky kid but he's also a full-fledged ninja; he can handle himself."

"Sakura's right." Sasuke said. "Naruto's such a loser. He's probably lying out there dead somewhere." Sasuke got up and walked away from the table, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Sasuke?" Sakura asked making him stop.

"I'm going for a walk." He said before leaving.

"But we just started eating- huh?" She looked at his plate to see it practically clean. "That was fast." Kaminari got up and Sakura looked over at her then her plate. "_You too_?" Sakura's eye twitched. Kaminari left the house without a word.

* * *

Kaminari looked up at the sky and saw a few dark clouds in the sky slowly making their way over.

"Don't follow me." She looked down to see Sasuke giving her a glare.

"I can go outside too ya know; I don't have to be following you." She said returning the glare. "I'm not Sakura." Sasuke scoffed slightly the smallest smirk coming to his face.

"Yeah, you're definitely not like her." He said.

"I'm taking that as a compliment." Kaminari said with a small smirk. Sasuke chuckled. "Hit Naruto on the head for me, would ya?" Kaminari asked before walking to the side of the house to sit by the water. Sasuke didn't change his facial expression and walked away into the woods without another word.

Kaminari sighed and dangled her feet into the water below. She kicked slowly and watched the water move while she sat there in thought. She looked up and saw lightning flash in the far away clouds. Suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her head and grabbed her head with both hands, letting out a gasp.

* * *

_Flashback: Eight Years Ago _

"####-Chan!" A woman called from the front door of a house. "####-Chan! Dinner!"

"Coming, Haha!" A young girl ran out from the woods and up to the woman.

"What did I tell you about playing in the woods?" Her mother asked with a frown. The little girl sighed.

"Not to go too far in and stay where you can see me." The girl said as if stating it for the millionth time. The mother smiled.

"Good girl." She patted her daughters head gently and the two went inside.

* * *

At the dinner table the girl's mother and father sat at opposite ends of the table and the little girl sat on her own side.

"What do you do all day in the woods, ########?" Her father asked.

"I play with ####-Chan." The little girl said with a mouthful of rice.

"Don't talk with your mouthful, sweetie." Her mother scolded. "Who's ####-Chan?"

"She's my best friend!" The little girl said excitedly.

"You should invite her over some time then." The father said. The little girl shook her head.

"Uh-uh. ####-Chan is shy." She said. "She only plays with me."

"Well tell her she's always welcome to come over for dinner." Her mother said with a smile. The little girl smiled and looked to the space across from her.

"Okay."

* * *

At dinner the next night the little girl came in and sat in her seat. She frowned.

"Haha, you forgot one." She said pointing the empty seat that was across from her. Her mother blinked and looked at the seat.

"No I didn't sweetie. There're only three of us." She said. The little girl shook her head.

"What about ####-Chan?"

"Did you ask her over for dinner?" Her father asked. The little girl nodded. "When is she coming over?" Her father asked as the mother got another plate.

"She's right there." The girl pointed to the seat with a frown. The parents looked at each other with small smiles. Their daughter had an imaginary friend. The mother placed the plate down in front of the empty chair.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." The father said with a smile. "Nice to meet you." He glanced at his daughter to see her smiling.

"She says it's nice to meet you too." The two parents smiled.

* * *

The next day the little girl's mother looked out the window while washing the dishes from that morning's breakfast. She suddenly dropped the plate she was holding and stared out the window. The father, who was sitting at the table drinking tea, looked over with a worried expression.

"What is it?" He asked getting up. He looked out the window and his eyes widened slightly. Both parents looked at their daughter who was sitting on the ground at the edge of the woods. She was holding one of the dolls she'd gotten for her last birthday. Across from her was the other doll. The doll was moving on its own as if someone they couldn't see was playing with it. The little girl laughed and started talking to someone. Both parents looked at each other with equally worried expressions. The mother went to the door and called for her daughter.

"Yes mommy?" The girl asked, coming over, holding her doll.

"Who are you talking to outside, sweetie?"

"####-Chan." The girl said. The mother crouched in front of the girl.

"What's her full name, sweetie?"

"Inazuma." The girl said blinking in confusion. Her mother's eyes widened in shock.

* * *

"Kaminari!" Someone touched Kaminari's shoulder and she jumped. She turned to see Sakura standing above her. "You weren't responding." She said crossing her arms with a frown. Kaminari was breathing heavily and was looking around with wide eyes. Sakura's expression softened. "Hey are you okay?" Kaminari nodded and slowly got up. She cleared her throat.

"Uh, yeah, what is it?"

"Kakashi-Sensei and I were going to go look for Naruto and Sasuke." Sakura said. Kaminari nodded. The two started walking. Kaminari put a hand over her heart and felt it beating rapidly.

* * *

"Naruto?!" Sakura called. Kakashi and Kaminari stood next to her. "Knowing Naruto he could be anywhere, and Sasuke hasn't come back either, wonder where they are." Kaminari looked up and smiled slightly as a kunai hit the ground in front of the three. The other two looked up and saw Naruto lying on a tree branch. "Whoa. Naruto can climb that high now using his chakra? That's great."

"Hmm." Kakashi looked up.

"What do ya think?" Naruto asked. "This high enough for you guys? I mean it's a long way down huh?" Naruto pushed himself up and stood on the branch. His foot slipped and he started to fall. A gasp came from the two girls.

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted.

"uh oh." Kakashi said. Sakura screamed as Naruto fell but he didn't fall far because his feet were still attacked to the branch but he was upside down.

"Ha ha, just kidding!" Naruto said. "You guys really fell for it." Naruto started laughing.

"We were worried about you Naruto!" Sakura said.

"Why do I think this is going to end badly?" Kakashi asked. Naruto giggled until his feet suddenly detached themselves from the tree branch.

"Ah! You just had to push it didn't you? Show off!" Sakura shouted then screamed as Naruto started to fall. Sasuke ran up the tree and caught Naruto by the ankle.

"You really are a total loser, Naruto." He said.

"Gah? Sasuke?" Naruto asked looking up at him.

"Ahh! Alright Sasuke you're the best!" Sakura cheered.

"If I'm still safe by the time I finish their training it'll be a miracle." Kakashi said with an eye smile. The two got down from the tree. Naruto smiled sheepishly.

"Huh?" He saw Kaminari walking away. "Hey Kami-Chan." She stopped and turned her head to shoot him an ice cold glare. "Gah!?" Naruto took a step back. Kaminari kept walking. "W-What happened to her?" Kakashi sighed. There was a soft rumble in the distance.

"Looks like it's going to rain." Kakashi said before looking after Kaminari.

* * *

"Now they're both late." Sakura said as everyone but Sasuke and Naruto were at the table. "I wouldn't have expected that from Sasuke." The doors opened and Sasuke came in with Naruto. Sasuke had Naruto's arm around his shoulder and he was helping him walk. They were both dripping wet from the rain that had started a few hours before.

"What have you been up to?" Tazuna asked. "You look like something the cat dragged in." Naruto lifted his head with a grin.

"Heh, we both made it." Naruto said. "We climbed all the way to the top."

"Good." Kakashi said with a nod. "Now we move on. Starting tomorrow you're both bodyguards for Tazuna." Naruto laughed and kicked his foot up making the two fall back.

"Alright!"

"Ah, you are _such_ a loser." Sasuke said. The table, excluding Inari and Kaminari, laughed. Tsunami went to get some towels. She came back and handed the boys each a towel. Sasuke sat in one of the chairs and dried his hair while Naruto just sat on the ground with the towel on his head.

"You're going to get sick." Kaminari said. Naruto smiled sheepishly and started drying his hair.

* * *

After dinner Kaminari helped Tsunami with the dishes while everyone else remained at the table.

"In a few more days the bridge will be finished." Tazuna said. "I have you to thank for that."

"You've all done great but you've still got to be careful." Tsunami said.

"I've been meaning to ask you this but I haven't had the chance until now." Tazuna said. "Why did you stay and protect me even after you found out I lied to bring you here?"

"Those who stray from the path of justice have no courage." Kakashi said. "But under the wing of a strong leader cowardice cannot survive."

"Huh?" Tsunami blinked.

"That was a quote from the first Hokage." Kakashi explained. Inari looked over at Naruto who was resting his head on his arms on the table with his eyes closed. Inari's eyes began to water until his tears hit the table.

"But why?"

"Hm?" Naruto lifted his head. "What'd you say?" Inari slammed his hands on the table and stood.

"All this stupid training is just a waste of time! Gato's got a whole army they'll beat you down and he'll destroy you! These cool things you all say, they don't mean anything! No matter what you do, the strong always win and the weak always lose!"

"Just speak for yourself." Naruto said putting his head back down. "It won't be like that for me you got that."

"Why don't you be quiet?! Just looking at you makes me sick! You don't know anything about this country; you're just butting in! Always laughing and playing around, you don't know what it's like to suffer and be treated like dirt." Kaminari tensed and looked at Naruto.

"Listen to yourself whining and complaining like some sorry little victim. You can whimper all day for all I care!" Naruto lifted his head to look at him. "You're nothing but a coward!"

"Naruto! You went too far." Sakura said. Naruto got up and left, angry. "Naruto." Inari's shoulders shook as he sobbed.

* * *

The next morning Kaminari stood in the doorway of the room Naruto was sleeping in. She sighed and smiled slightly. He looked peaceful even if he was sprawled out on the futon. She rolled her eyes at his night hat and shook her head with a smile before leaving.

"Come on let's go." Tazuna said. "Where's the other girl?" He asked with a frown as Kaminari ran outside.

"Sorry." She said as she ran up to them. The group started walking to the bridge.

* * *

When the group got to the bridge they found all the workers on the ground groaning in pain.

"Hold on, what the heck is this?" Tazuna asked. "What happened? Someone was here, someone got to them!"

"Could it be…?" Kakashi said quietly. Suddenly mist started to roll in thickly. "This mist. Sasuke, Sakura, Nari, get ready." The four got into stances and took out their kunai. "I knew he was still alive. He just couldn't wait for round two."

"Kakashi sensei, it's Zabuza isn't it?" Sakura asked. "This is his hidden mist jutsu."

"No it's some other fog freak we know." Kaminari growled. Sakura made a small sound of surprise at the other girl's hostility.

"Sorry I kept you waiting Kakashi." Zabuza said. "I see you've still got those brats with you. That one is still trembling." He said talking about Sasuke. "Pitiful." Suddenly there were a bunch of Zabuzas around them. Sasuke smirked making the Zabuza in front of him looked at him in question.

"I'm trembling with… excitement." Sasuke said.

"Go on Sasuke." Kakashi said. Zabuza went to attack but Sasuke quickly sliced through all of the water clones.

"Ohh so you could see they were water clones, huh?" Zabuza said as he and Haku stepped forward. "The brat's improving. Looks like you've got a rival Haku."

"So it seems." Haku said.

"Well well, so I had it right." Kakashi said. "It was all an act."

"An act?" Tazuna asked.

"That cute little mask." Kakashi said.

"huh?" Sakura said.

"Big phony. Heh." Sasuke said.

"So I guess all the about being a tracker ninja and protecting his village was just a bunch of bull." Tazuna said.

"They look pretty chummy to me. I'd say they've been pulling scams like that for a long time." Kakashi said.

"He's got some nerve facing us again after pulling that _trick_." Sakura said.

"And hiding behind a mask? Who does he think he's fooling?" Kakashi asked.

"Um, speak for yourself sensei." Sakura said.

"That's it, I'm taking him out." Sasuke said. Sakura gasped. "Who does he think he's fooling? Hiding behind that mask like some sort of clown."

"Sasuke, you're so cool." Sakura said making Kaminari roll her eyes and Kakashi looked slightly annoyed since he had just said the same thing. Suddenly Haku was moving quickly towards Sasuke.

"What's this?" Haku attacked but Sasuke was able to block the senbon needles with his kunai.

"Hm? Sakura, Nari, cover Tazuna and stay close to me." Kakashi said. "Let Sasuke handle this." The two's weapons kept clashing.

"We want the bridge builder not you." Haku said. "If you back down, I won't have to kill you."

"Save it." Sasuke said with a smirk.

"You're making a mistake. You won't be able to keep up with my speed. I've gained two key advantages."

"Yeah? What are they?"

"First, we're surrounded by water. Second, I've blocked one of your hands; therefore you only have one free hand to defend yourself." Haku began to make hand signs with his one free hand. "Secret Jutsu: A thousand needles of death." Haku stepped into the water and it rose.

"Sasuke!" Sakura called. The water rose higher and suddenly became a bunch of straight and sharp water senbon. Sasuke focused his chakra and the needles came at them. As they hit Sasuke jumped high in the air while Haku jumped back out of the way. Sasuke threw throwing stars and Haku looked up to see him just in time to jump back to avoid them. Sasuke appeared behind Haku.

"You're not as fast as you think." Sasuke said. "From this point on, you'll be the one defending against my attacks. They both moved quickly and their weapons clashed. Sasuke threw a kunai around his back and Haku had to duck to avoid it giving Sasuke the opportunity to kick Haku back. Haku landed on the ground by Zabuza. "Thought you were quicker, huh? Now what else are you wrong about?"

"You made a big mistake insulting these ninja and calling them brats." Kakashi said "That's just guaranteed to bring out Sasuke attitude. He's the best young fighter of the hidden leaf village and Sakura here is our sharpest mind." Kaminari looked up at Kakashi from his side. "And last but not least our number one hyperactive knuckle-head ninja is Naruto Uzumaki." Kaminari's eyes narrowed and her fist clenched by her sides.

"Looks like _someone_ is upset you forgot about them." Zabuza said with a chuckle. Kakashi looked down at Kaminari who had her head lowered slightly.

"Kaminari here is-" Kakashi saw her fists tighten "Nari-"

"Haku, if we keep going like this, we'll be the victims instead of them." Zabuza said. "Get on with it."

"Right." Chakra emitted from Haku.

"What's that?"

"I'm sorry it's come to this." Haku said.

"The air… so cold." Sasuke said. Haku did a hand sign and ice mirrors began to form behind and around Sasuke.

"Secret Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors!" Haku stepped into one of the mirrors and became 2D. The mirrors shined and soon they all had Haku's image. Kakashi ran forward but Zabuza came in front of him.

"If you enter this fight, you fight me." Zabuza said. "Your boy has no chance against that jutsu; he's finished."

"Now, we'll begin." Haku said. "And I'll show you what speed really means." Haku began to throw senbon at Sasuke from all the different mirrors.

"Sasuke." Kakashi said. Sasuke went getting cut up by the senbon coming in every direction.

"Sasuke!" Sakura shouted.

"Ahhh!" Sasuke dropped his kunai, which landed in front of Sakura, and shielded his head.

"Just try to stop him and I'll kill the other three in a heartbeat." Zabuza said.

"I'm sorry, but I can't stay with you." Sakura told Tazuna. "Forgive me."

"I understand. Go now." Tazuna said. Kaminari gritted her teeth as Sakura picked up the kunai. Tazuna looked at Kaminari who began to shake.

"Take this!" Sakura ran forward and jumped up before throwing the kunai back to Sasuke. Haku caught it but then senbon barrage had stopped. Sasuke collapsed. "He caught it!" Sasuke struggled to get up. Suddenly something hit Haku in the face causing him to fall out of his mirror. "Huh?" Haku got up; he now had a slash on his mask. There was a large puff of smoke. "Who is it?"

"Number one hyperactive knuckle-head ninja." Haku said. The smoke slowly cleared.

"Naruto Uzumaki is here! Yeah, Believe it!"

* * *

**So I ended the chapter where whatever episode ended like that ended. Next chapter is a lot shorter than the previous chapters only because I cut the Land of Waves Arc short suddenly and the chapter after is all flashback.**

**So I added a little flashback in this chapter cause apparently there isn't a lot of Kaminari in this. There are certain things I can't change in the anime. I had to leave Naruto and Sasuke working together. Next chap is a third of this one's length but I'm posting it later today. Then flashback later tonight.**


	9. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its plot/characters. I only own my OCs and my plot and any changes made to the plot of the anime.**

**It was very hard for me to get this chapter the way I wanted it and even then it didn't turn out how I wanted it really. It would've been better if I could've made a visual episode out of it. The vision in my head is much better with picture and sound. I guess I'll have to settle with this.**

**Mr turtle: read bottom note to you b/c it would spoil things if I replied here **

* * *

"Naruto Uzumaki is here! Yeah Believe it!" The smoke from Naruto's grand entrance went away. "Ha! Now that I'm here everything will be alright!"

"Naruto!" Sakura said happily.

"You know how in stories the hero usually shows up at the last minute and then kicks butt? Well that's what I'm do, right now!" He pointed. "Believe it!"

"Ugh, this brat again." Zabuza said annoyed.

"Alright! You're history!" Naruto said to Haku. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

"Huh?" Kakashi's eyes widened as Zabuza threw shuriken at Naruto. "No!"

"Huh?"

"Naruto move!" Kakashi yelled. Haku threw senbon at the shuriken and made them fall before they hit Naruto shocking everyone.

"They didn't get 'em." Sakura said.

"Their weapons canceled each other's out." Tazuna said. "Amazing. Now that's what I call lucky I think." He said. He glanced to his side and saw Kaminari was still shaking slightly and had bent her back over a bit more. Tazuna looked at her concerned.

"What are you doing Naruto? Are you crazy?" Sakura shouted.

"This is a battle not a talent show." Kakashi said. "Don't let your opponent see your jutsu!"

"Ahhh-"

"The shinobi's art is deception." Kakashi said. "Always keep the enemy guessing. Even when executing a single jutsu one must distract their opponent's attention, catch them off balance and out maneuver them. You just turn yourself into a human target when you enter a battle like that."

"GAH! I'm sorry!" Naruto held his face. "I was just tryin'a rescue everybody!"

"But, there's another mystery here." Kakashi said.

"Haku, what are you doing?" Zabuza asked.

"Zabuza, this boy, let me fight him my own way. Please." Haku said.

"Bring it on." Naruto said.

"Hmph, so you want me to leave this to you?" Zabuza asked. "Is that is Haku? As usual you're too soft."

"Forgive me."

"I'm warning you," Naruto said before pointing. "One way or another I'm gunna rip off that mask and take you apart!"

"Don't even think about it." Zabuza said to Kakashi. "You know the score, Kakashi, if you go after Haku I go after the bridge builder. "Relax Kakashi, sit back and enjoy the show. Let's see how they do one on one."

"That mask, and your bogus story, you were with Zabuza all along!" Naruto said. "You think you can get away with a stunt like that?!"

"I'm sorry." Haku said. Naruto looked surprised.

"Huh?"

"But as your sensei said, deceiving your opponent, catching them off guard that is the art of the shinobi. Please don't take it personally." Sasuke threw his kunai but Haku simply moved his head back to avoid it.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked seeing him in the mirror thing.

"I haven't forgotten about you." Haku said. "Not for an instant." Haku turned to face Sasuke. "Some warriors accept defeat gracefully; they know when they are beaten. Others do not, so be it. Let us finish our battle then to the death." Haku started walking back to his mirrors.

"Wah- hey where are you going?!" Naruto yelled after him.

"It's alright, Naruto, we'll have our fight next." Haku entered one of the mirrors. Only one mirror showed Haku. Sasuke checked around him before going for a weapon. "I'm behind you." Sasuke looked up to see Haku was gone from the mirror in front of him. Haku filled every mirror and Sasuke was soon hit with a barrage of senbon.

"Sasuke!" Sakura shouted.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted after her. Kaminari's legs began to shake.

"Sasuke, Naruto, _think_!" Kakashi said. "You need to attack from the outside and from the inside at the same time. Suddenly Naruto was inside next to Sasuke.

"Hey I snuck in here to save you." Naruto whispered. "Pretty cool move huh Sasuke?"

"Naruto you sneak up on your enemy not your ally." Kakashi said.

"EH- You are a complete loser! You're a shinobi, think carefully before you move!" Sasuke shouted.

"What the heck's your problem?! You should thank me for coming in here to help you!"

"Naruto, if we're both inside here-! Errr- Forget it! I've had it with your mistakes."

"And I've had it with your attitude! Believe it!" Naruto shouted. As the two shouted Tazuna noticed Kaminari fall to her knees. She was holding her head as if in pain.

"Hey kid?" Tazuna slowly reached out to touch her.

* * *

Kaminari couldn't hear anything going on around her, she wasn't even aware of what was going on with the others. The only thing she could hear was her voice and other voices in her head… then a girl's voice.

_I'm not a monster…_

**"**Zabuza,** the demon" **Kakashi's voice echoed.

_Don't hate me…_

**"When I was your age this hand had already crushed many opponents" **Zabuza's voice echoed.

_Look at me…_

**"Just looking at you makes me sick" **Inari's voice echoed.

_I didn't mean to…_

**They won't stop**

_I didn't want to…_

**The screaming**

_It wasn't me…._

**I can't take the screaming!**

_She made me… _

**Stop it!**

_I didn't want to…_

**THEY WON'T STOP SCREAMING!**

_I just wanted them to stop_

**_I can make the screaming stop_**

_I'm sorry…_

* * *

The second Tazuna touched Kaminari's shoulder she let out an ear piercing, high-pitched scream. Everyone, even Zabuza and Haku, covered their ears.

"What is that?!" Sakura shouted. The mirrors all cracked and shook as if they were about to shatter.

"Nari!" Kakashi shouted. "Nari stop!" The scream suddenly stopped as if something had gotten caught in Kaminari's throat. The air around her seemed to pulse. Everyone lowered their hands from their ears and looked at the shaking girl. Kakashi swallowed and slowly walked towards her. "Nari." He said softly. Her shoulders were shaking and soon quiet giggling grew louder until she was laughing. The genin and Tazuna looked scared and confused while the other adults looked shocked and bewildered. "Nari." Kaminari slowly raised her head and looked up with red eyes and a big smile.

Naruto's eyes widened and he was suddenly paralyzed with fear. The same fear he felt five years prior. He glanced at Sasuke to see he was frozen too. Sakura took a few steps away from the red eyed girl with a small gasp. Tazuna backed away as well. Kakashi swallowed.

"Nar-" The girl slowly stood, the grin never leaving her face. She looked extremely happy in a really creepy way. Zabuza huffed. Kaminari slowly turned her head to look at Zabuza. The man narrowed his eyes at her. She continued to smile as she lifted her arm to point at him. He was suddenly hit with in invisible force like a punch in the gut. He bent over and coughed as Kaminari tilted her head to the side. She lowered her arm and giggled. Kakashi looked at Sakura and Tazuna and gave them silent instructions not to move. Kaminari's grin darkened and in a flash she was behind Zabuza.

"Boo." She giggled. Without Kaminari lifting a finger Zabuza was kicked and spun in the air before landing on the other side of the bridge. He got up and looked at the girl in bewilderment.

"How?!" He got up and reached for his sword but Kaminari's gaze snapped to his arm and there was an audible crack that gave almost everyone shivers. "AHH!" Zabuza tried to push the bone back in but it was too far out. "You fucking bitch." Kaminari only grinned. Her head snapped over to where Haku was in the mirror. She looked at Sasuke who was finding it difficult to breath, even more so when she looked at him. Her eyes narrowed seeing all the cuts on him and she looked back at the mirror. Suddenly the mirror Haku was in shattered. Naruto and Sasuke dived out of the way to avoid the shards of ice and Haku fell out of the mirror. Kaminari's gaze went to Naruto then Sasuke. Both stared at her with wide eyes and didn't dare move. Her gaze snapped back to Haku and there was a splash of blood as Haku's left hand was cut clean off by an unseen force. Zabuza ran at her with his sword in anger and swung down at her. "What?!" Kaminari slowly turned her head to look at him. The sword was inches from her head but wouldn't move any further. She blinked and he was flung back and slid across the ground. She turned her head back to Haku.

"Inazuma!" Kakashi said. Kaminari turned to look at him with a bigger smile as if she just noticed him.

"Kakashi Hata-ah!-" She gasped and the smile was gone. Kakashi had two fingers to her forehead. Her eyes widened and flashed blue before she collapsed.

* * *

**Response to Mr turtle(guest): she wasn't doing anything because she was having a mental thing happening. There will be fight scenes where she fights just not around the beginning because I have to establish the whole Inazuma thing. Be patient. And thank you for reading the next chapter instead of not reading more of this.**

**Anyway I bet you're all kinda confused. **

**I wanted the bold and italic section thing to be creepy and like two voices over lapping each other. That was what was going on in Kaminari's head before she started screaming. **

**The italics are what she's thinking and the bold was what she was hearing. She got a flash of a memory and that's what she was thinking at the time the memory was actually happening. The italics were what she was thinking in the present after gaining the memory.**

**I kinda mixed _Elfen Lied's_(anime) "Vectors" and _Beyond Two souls_ (game) to make Kaminari's … uniqueness. All will be explain in due time (in the next two chaps). Next chapter is a flashback. (also I'm skipping the rest of this arc. I've made this too much of the anime and not enough original. Of course I'll still follow the story with the chunin exams and stuff later)**

**If you're still super confused and don't care about Spoilers just PM me and I'll explain in detail but wait for the flash back chapter to explain some of it first. **


	10. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its plot/characters. I only own my OCs and my plot and any changes made to the plot of the anime.**

**carrie (Guest): Yeah I googled it. Just you google "mother in Japanese" haha comes up but okasan also comes up. But idk where I learned that there's two ways to say each one. One version for speaking to ****_your_**** brother, mother, sister, father, and another version for speaking to ****_someone else's_**** brother, mother, sister, father or just calling someone brother, mother, sister, father. **

**Flashback Chapter yay.**

* * *

_Five years ago (Three days after time Prologue takes place) _

Inazuma opened her eyes, wincing at the bright light, and stared up at the white ceiling above her. She was lying on a similar white bed. She could quickly deduce she was in either a hospital or an infirmary.

She turned her head to the left and looked out the open window. She sat up to get a better view. Sunlight came in through the window and created a square of light on the white floor that stretched onto the bed. She followed the light from the floor to the bed. She looked down more and saw someone had changed her clothes replacing them with a long white t-shirt that was way too big for her.

She heard something and her head snapped to look at the door to her right.

"You're awake. Thought you'd never get up. It's been a few days." Kakashi said walking into the room. He walked over and handed her the glass. She stared at it before looking up at him. He sighed. "I promise it's just water." He said. She didn't move or blink. He put the water on the table next to the bed. "It's there if you want it." He said. "What's your name?" He asked. She continued to stare at him. "My name is Kakashi Hatake." She blinked.

"Ina…zuma…?" Her voice came out as an uncertain whisper.

"Lightning." Kakashi said with a small nod. "Do you remember anything?"

"Blood." She whispered

"Do you remember whose blood?" Kakashi asked softly. Inazuma raised a hand slowly to her left eye. It had a bandage over it.

"...mine." She whispered. She slowly lowered her hand and stared at it. She looked down at her clean white shirt. She slowly shook her head slowly.

"And the blood that was on your dress?" Kakashi asked.

"Theirs..."

"Whose?"

"Those...people..."

"What else do you remember?"

"... Screams." She stared at her hands that were in her lap. "They wouldn't stop screaming." She said barely above a whisper.

"Why were they screaming?" Kakashi asked. Inazuma slowly turned her head to look at Kakashi. He felt a shiver go down his spine at the look in her eyes.

"...they made… mommy and daddy scream."

"So you…?"

"Made them stop."

"You made the people stop hurting your parents?" Kakashi asked. Inazuma shook her head slowly.

"I made _them_ scream." She said. A small creepy smile slowly made its way onto her face. Kakashi swallowed. Kakashi turned around and saw the 3rd Hokage walk into the room. He walked up to Inazuma and put two fingers on her forehead. Her visible eye widened, flashing red for a brief second, before she passed out and fell back onto the bed.

"What did you do?" Kakashi asked. The third Hokage sighed.

"She was not in herself."

"How would you know?" Kakashi asked with a confused frown.

"Her eye, it flashed red." He sighed again. "It seems she's not the only one in that head. There must be a darker side that was released when she saw and heard what she did. She saw her family and village killed; you described what you saw to me. That must have triggered that darker side. She's very dangerous for someone so small." The third Hokage looked down at the young girl. He placed a hand to her forehead. "When she wakes...that side will be dormant, asleep. She won't remember what happened or meeting you, you'll have to reintroduce yourself. She won't remember anything but her name and her ninja training."

"Should we get rid of her headband?" Kakashi asked. The third Hokage looked over at the black clothed ninja headband on the table next to the bed.

"Perhaps it would be best if did she know where she came from." Kakashi nodded.

* * *

The next day Kakashi returned to the girl's room and found her awake and looking out the window again. She didn't turn when he entered the room. He placed a new glass of water on the table next to her headband and she turned with a gasp. She looked at him with a wide, innocent, blue eye.

"Didn't mean to scare you." Kakashi said. "My name is Kakashi Hatake. What's yours?"

"..Ka-..." Her voice was hoarse. Kakashi handed her the glass of water. She took it and gulped it down.

"Take it easy." She lowered the glass.

"Kaminari." She said. Kakashi's eye narrowed slightly in confusion.

"Thunder." He said. She nodded.

"Do you know how old you are?" She looked down.

"...I think I'm..." She thought about it for a minute. "...seven?"

"Do you remember your birthday?" She shook her head. Kakashi nodded. "Alright. Do you remember anything else?" She shook her head. She suddenly noticed the headband on the table. Her eye widened and she grabbed it. "That's a Yugakure headband." Kakashi said. Suddenly Kaminari noticed how she could only see though one eye. With a gasp her hand flew to her left eye. "It's alright. You didn't lose it." Kakashi reassured her. "There's gunna be a scar though." She lifted the bandage but Kakashi's hand stopped her. "Don't." He said. She put her hand down and nodded. "So, you have a headband, do you remember any ninja training?" She nodded.

"...I was a chunin." Kakashi seemed surprised then smiled with his eye. "I passed last year…"

"You remind me of myself." Kaminari tilted her head to the side in question. "I became a genin at age five then chunin a year later." The little girl looked amazed. "Would you like to be a Leaf ninja?" She looked confused. "You're in Konahagakure." She seemed to think for a moment before nodding. "Great. I'll talk to the Hokage. For now you rest." Kaminari nodded and Kakashi left. Instead of lying down though she got up and went to the window. She looked outside. A bit if yellow caught her eye and she looked down to see a boy about her age looking up at her. She quickly moved away from the window and got back into bed.

* * *

Later that day Kakashi returned to the hospital room with a bundle of clothes.

"I talked to the Hokage. I also got you some clothes."

"What happened to _my_ clothes?"

"They were… dirty."

"Couldn't you wash them?"

"They were so dirty they wouldn't get clean." Kakashi said while smiling with his eye. "Here." Kaminari took the clothes and stood up. Kakashi turned around and she got dressed. He turned back around when she cleared her throat. She looked down at the black outfit she was wearing. A long sleeved black shirt with a matching skirt that went to her knees. The sleeves were a bit long and covered her hands. She looked up as Kakashi handed her a pair of small boots and socks. She put them on and grabbed her headband tying it around her waist under her shirt. She looked at Kakashi. "Let's take a look at that eye." Kaminari sat back on the bed and Kakashi crouched in front of her to take off the bandage. "Hmm..."

"Is it bad?" She asked. She kept the eye closed.

"I'd give it a few more days." Kakashi said as he put a new bandage on.

"Now what?"

"Now, we get you something to eat." Kakashi said standing up. "You must be starving." Kaminari put a hand on her stomach and nodded. "Well come on then." Kaminari hopped off the bed and followed Kakashi as he left the room.

As soon as they got outside Kaminari grabbed Kakashi's shirt in her small fist. He looked down at her as she looked around. He offered her his hand and she looked up at him before taking it. Kakashi smiled beneath his mask and they continued walking.

* * *

While walking Kaminari noticed the little blond boy, she saw earlier before, again. She saw him walking alone, the adults avoiding him or glaring at him. He seemed to notice her as well; he stopped walking and looked at her. He looked afraid for a moment and looked at her covered eye then to her blue one. He visibly relaxed. Kakashi led Kaminari around a corner and they lost sight of each other.

* * *

After a full meal Kakashi took Kaminari to meet the Hokage. Kakashi knocked on the door.

"Enter." A voice called. Kakashi entered with Kaminari hiding behind his legs. "No need to be shy, little one." Kaminari peeked out from behind Kakashi's legs at the Hokage. "I understand you want to become a leaf ninja." Kaminari nodded.

"Y-yes."

"Kakashi informed me that you remember being a chunin."

"Yes sir."

"You'll start at the academy then." The Hokage said with a nod.

"W-where will I live?"

"There's a building with multiple vacancies. You may pick the one in which you would like to live." Kaminari nodded. "Kakashi will show you the way. Before you go," He tossed something over to her and she caught it. The coin purse was heavy and Kaminari stared at it with a wide eye. She started to shake her head when the Hokage held up a hand. "You'll need something to help you get started."

"T-thank you very much." Kaminari said before bowing. The Hokage smiled at her.

* * *

Kakashi brought Kaminari to the almost vacant apartment building and she picked a room. She looked down the hall at the only occupied room. She looked up at Kakashi in silent question and he looked at the door before looking at her.

"You can meet your neighbor later." He smiled with his eyes. "You've got to go shopping." Kaminari blinked. "Don't worry, I'll help you." He patted her on the head twice making her frown.

* * *

It was night by the time they returned to the apartment. Kakashi unlocked the door with his free hand and let Kaminari go in first.

"I'm glad you're not like most girls and shopping." He muttered putting three bags down on the kitchen isle. Kaminari put her two on the floor and looked at him confused. Kakashi looked at an invisible watch. "Well, I'd help you unpack but I have to get going." Kaminari frowned. "Don't worry; I'll come back tomorrow and treat you to some ramen." Kaminari smiled and nodded. Kaminari walked Kakashi to the door. He patted her head again, as she stood in the doorway, before leaving down the hall. Kaminari was about to go inside when something yellow in the corner of her vision caught her attention. She looked over and found the blond boy peeking out of his apartment. They stared at each other before Kaminari went to go back inside.

"Wait!" The boy shouted coming out into the hallway. Kaminari stopped and peeked back. "I-I..." The boy blushed slightly, embarrassed. Kaminari tilted her head. "I uh..." He looked down at his feet. Kaminari could almost see the gears in his head turning rapidly as he tried to find something to say. "Uh- goodnight!" He quickly went back into his apartment. Kaminari blinked.

* * *

Soon Kaminari's apartment felt like a home. Kakashi would visit when he could and sometimes take Kaminari out for food. Kaminari felt safe and comfortable in her apartment. However outside was much different. Whenever Kaminari left her apartment, whether it was to get food or just for a walk, the villagers were a lot less than friendly. Most would ignore her, others would glare. A few shop owners would even ask her to leave.

The kids were no better. They would make fun of her scar calling her ugly and gross. They'd tease her about her white hair and say she was an ugly old lady was just really short. When her hair started to grow longer she made sure her hair covered her scar. She avoided leaving her apartment unless absolutely necessary.

It was around the start if school that Kakashi stopped visiting. He was busy on missions or doing official ninja business. He would visit when he could and would sometimes make up excuses to be late for work so he could see her.

With Kakashi coming over less and less and the bullying from the kids and adults alike Kaminari started to shut out the world; not that she was opened to the world to begin with.

When adults would glare she would glare back twice as coldly. When kids would pick on her she'd use the same glare that was growing in intensity and becoming more threatening. Soon the name calling and teasing stopped, being replaced with everyone ignoring her and leaving her alone. She accepted the fact that people feared her and came to enjoy their fear because it meant they would leave her alone. Part of her didn't like the fact that people feared her but another part, deep down, loved it.

* * *

Of course there was one person who wasn't like the rest. He would greet her whenever he saw her; say good morning and good night. He would walk next to her to the academy. This one person didn't hate her for no-reason or make fun of her like everyone else. He didn't glare or avoid her but made strong attempts to be her friend.

* * *

**Obviously I was talking about Naruto in the last paragraph. So that was the flashback. If anyone is confused just PM me and I'll answer any questions. **


	11. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its plot/characters. I only own my OCs and my plot and any changes made to the plot of the anime.**

**Uploading this from school, this is weird. But yay I have my laptop in school and three study halls to use it. **

* * *

Kaminari opened her eyes, wincing at the bright light, and stared up at the white ceiling above her. She was lying on a similar white bed. She could quickly deduce she was in either a hospital or an infirmary.

She turned her head to the left and looked out the open window. She sat up to get a better view. Sunlight came in through the window and created a square of light on the white floor that stretched onto the bed. She followed the light from the floor to the bed. She looked down more and saw someone had changed her clothes replacing them with a long white t-shirt that was way too big for her.

She heard something and her head snapped to look at the door to her right.

"You're awake. Thought you'd never get up. It's been a few days." Kakashi said walking into the room.

"Sorry." Kaminari lowered her head.

"Well, déjà vu." Kakashi said with a small chuckle. Kaminari peeked up at him. He walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. "What do you remember?"

"That girl… it wasn't me." Kaminari lifted her head with wide eyes. "I didn't do those things!"

"Calm down, I know you didn't." Kakashi said. "What else do you remember?"

"Inazuma… she…" Kaminari looked confused. "I don't understand… who is she… why is she in my head?" Kaminari held her head.

"The Hokage seems to believe that she's attached to you." Kaminari looked at him alarmed. "She's not you, she's someone else entirely."

"Why is she attached to me? How did she… I don't understand." Tears began to well up in her eyes. "Who is she?"

"We don't know. All we know is she's dangerous and she's been asleep for a while." Suddenly a glass of water that was on the bedside table shook before flying across the room and shattering against the wall.

"I-I didn't do that!"

"I know, I know." Kakashi said quickly, putting his hands on her shoulders. He sighed slightly. "I guess she's upset with me." Kaminari looked at him confused. "Back on the island I sent a pulse of chakra to your head to knock you out." Kaminari swallowed.

"She said… since she just woke up she's trying to get a handle on things… She… she didn't mean to do that just now."

"She has been asleep for quite a while."

"She also said that you cut her fun short." Kaminari shivered. "She wasn't trying to hurt the others, only Zabuza and Haku… I think she was trying to protect Naruto and Sasuke-" Her eyes widened. "W-where are they?! A-are they okay?! Are they-?!"

"Calm down, Nari!" Kakashi gave her shoulders a quick squeeze. "Calm down. They're alright."

"What… happened to Zabuza and Haku?"

"…We won." Kakashi said. Kaminari swallowed.

"I'm sorry." Kaminari lowered her head.

"Why are you sorry?"

"I let her take control." Kaminari said in an almost whisper. "I let my emotions get to me. I just felt…" She swallowed. "Unwanted."

"Why would you feel that way?" Kakashi asked with a frown.

"You were praising everyone but me, paying attention to everyone but me. I know it's selfish but… I don't know why it affected me as much as it did. I'm used to being ignored. It was almost as if it wasn't me feeling it…" She trailed off.

"Nari, Naruto and the others have just become ninja. They're only fresh genin. You've been a ninja since I met you. You're a higher rank than them. I know you're a good fighter, I know you understand chakra and have good chakra control. You don't need to impress me." Kaminari looked down. "I am proud of you." Kakashi stroked her hair gently. Her eyes started to water more and he pulled her into a hug.

"Kashi-nii…" She said her words getting muffled by his shirt. Kakashi's eye widened for a moment but then he smiled and rubbed her back gently.

* * *

There was a knock at the door and the two pulled apart to see Naruto poke his head in the room.

"Kami-Chan! You're awake!" He ran over to the bed. Kakashi got up.

"Nari, your new team will be at the Hokage's office tomorrow. Get some rest."

"Okay Kashi-nii."Kakashi smiled and chuckled at Naruto's expression before leaving. Kaminari turned her head away from Naruto.

"Kami-Chan?" Naruto ran around the bed to look at her. She turned her head back the other way. "Eh?" Naruto ran around again and Kaminari turned her head again. After a few more times Naruto stopped. "Errr!" He went up to her and grabbed her shoulders, firmly yet gently. "Stop!" He made her look at him. "…Don't cry Kami-Chan." She closed her eyes and tears fell. Naruto pulled his sleeve and wiped her face. "Don't cry, everyone's okay." Naruto said with a smile. "And they finished the bridge!"

"T-That's great." Kaminari said her voice cracking as she tried not to cry. Naruto frowned.

"I'm really glad you're oka-."

"I'm sorry." Kaminari said. "I don't know who she is." She looked at him.

"Her name is Inazuma… right?" Naruto asked. Kaminari nodded. "Can she… uh… see me?" Naruto looked around. Kaminari nodded again and Naruto swallowed.

"She won't hurt you."

"H-How do you know?"

"Because she didn't hurt you before, she was trying to protect you." Naruto nodded, understanding.

"So… um… is she just… watching?" Naruto asked. Suddenly a vase of flowers was knocked off the other bedside table. Kaminari flinched and Naruto jumped. Kaminari shook her head. "You don't have to break stuff, Ina-Chan." Naruto muttered. Kaminari blinked at him.

"You're not… afraid?"

"Huh?" Naruto raised an eyebrow then shook his head. "Well I'll admit it wasn't something I expected but if she says she won't hurt me then I believe her." Suddenly the water from the shattered glass hit Naruto in the back of the head some of it splashed onto Kaminari's face. They both blinked.

"Zuma!" Kaminari wiped the water off her face. "That wasn't nice." Naruto was chuckling.

"It's okay Kami-Chan. It's just water." He said shaking his head. The water from in his hair sprayed and hit Kaminari in the face.

"Naruto!" She laughed putting up her hands to block the water.

"Huh?" Naruto stopped. "Oops." He giggled. Both of them giggled quietly. "She's not so bad." Naruto said. "She made you stop crying." Kaminari nodded. Suddenly one of the flowers from the vase jumped up and landed on Naruto's hand. "Uhh." Naruto blinked at the flower. "I think she likes me." Naruto said with a slight chuckle as a light pink came to his cheeks. Suddenly it felt like an invisible hand was holding his wrist. It made him pick up the flower and hold it out to Kaminari. Both blinked then blushed bright pink. "_Ina-Chan_." Naruto whined. Kaminari took the flower from Naruto's fingers. Naruto swallowed.

"Thanks Zuma…" She put the flower in her hair behind her ear. She stopped as if listening to the other girl. "But you gave him the flower first..." She listened. "It doesn't work like that." Kaminari said shaking her head and Naruto blinked.

"So you can talk to her?"

"She's… in my head I guess." Kaminari said looking away slightly.

"Wow, neat!" Naruto smiled. "So besides the whole scary violence thing she can do, Ina-Chan's pretty cool to have around." Another flower was thrown and hit Naruto in the face. He blinked then smiled. "Thanks Ina-Chan."

"Um, Naruto, she threw that in annoyance."

"Huh? What did I do?" Naruto asked scratching the back of his head.

"I think she's afraid you'll… be afraid of me."

"I could never be afraid of you Kami-Chan." Naruto said with a smile. He got up and held out his hand. "Come on, I bet you'd rather sleep in your own bed than here." Kaminari nodded and took his hand. She stood but immediately a wave of dizziness washed over her and her legs gave out. "Ah!" Naruto quickly caught her and lowered her to the floor. "Are you okay?" Kaminari nodded.

"Just dizzy." She said.

"Hmm…" Naruto suddenly turned around. "Here, get on my back." He said pointing with his thumb. Kaminari looked down at her clothes but got on Naruto's back anyway. "Alright, let's go!" Naruto said with a chuckle before going out the window and to their apartment.

* * *

Naruto stopped in front of Kaminari's door and let her off.

"We should get some ramen tomorrow when you feel better and after you meet your new team." Naruto said. Kaminari smiled and nodded.

"Okay."

"Nice meeting you Ina-Chan." Naruto said with a smile. A small breeze blew and made his hair move. He opened his eyes and looked surprised then smiled. "I'll see you later Kami-Chan."

* * *

**So I really hope you guys picked up on the thing I put in their subtly. If not that's okay I'll get to it eventually. **

**So next chapter we need Kaminari's new team and then the next chapter starts the chunin exam arc. There will be fighting in it and you'll see Kaminari and Inazuma fight. **


	12. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its plot/characters. I only own my OCs and my plot and any changes made to the plot of the anime.**

**Uploading from school again. **

* * *

"Kami-Chan, Kami-chan!" Kaminari opened her door with raised eyebrows.

"Yes Naruto?"

"You're meeting your new team today right?!"

"Yeah." She said. "But not for another hour." She said blinking at him.

"I'm going with you." He said with a grin. "I gotta make sure your team is good enough for you." He said with a chuckle as he crossed his arms. Kaminari smiled softly.

"Naruto, it's a normal team. Two genin and a jounin sensei."

"But you're a chunin!"

"Only in skill level." Kaminari said shaking her head.

"As far as I'm concerned you're a chunin."

"Thanks Naruto."

"So do you know their names yet?"

"Not yet." Kaminari shook her head. "Uh...do you wanna come in?" Naruto blinked and looked past her.

"Can I?" He asked looking at her with wide eyes. She nodded and moved so he could come in. He slowly walked past her into the apartment.

"Whoa."

"What?" Kaminari asked as she closed the door.

"It's so clean."

"I take it yours is not?"

"Huh wha- no no it it's just... Not _as_ clean." He said rubbing the back of his head.

"If you want I could come over and help you clean up."

"Huh? No no no that's okay."

"Are you sure? I owe you big time for..." she trailed off and looked away.

"For what?"

"For what happened on the mission... I'm really sorry-"

"Stop saying you're sorry." Naruto said with a frown. "You already said that a million times. I don't care that Ina-Chan gets really protective to the point of maiming someone. _You're_ still the Kaminari I know and you're still my friend." Naruto said with a smile. "Ah- are you crying?! Don't cry Kami-Chan-!" Kaminari whirled around to hide her face.

"I-I am not!" She said. She wiped her eyes with one hand and hung her head.

"K-Kami-Chan?" Naruto reached his hand out.

"I ... I thought you would be afraid of me or hate me... I'm a killer I-!"

"Stop!" Naruto spun her around by her shoulders. "Don't say that." Naruto had a serious look on his face. "I would never be afraid of you and you're not a killer!"

"I killed my parents, Naruto!" She said with her eyes closed. Naruto blinked.

"Kami-"

"I keep having these flashbacks… these visions keep popping up." She swallowed. "I'm starting to remember what I forgot… My village came to kill me," Naruto's eyes widened. "My parents told me to hide in the woods and when they wouldn't tell the villagers where I was they started to hurt them." She sniffled. "They were screaming so much… Inazuma … took over and she killed the villagers that were in my house hurting my parents…"

"But you didn't-"

"They died by my hands and … Inazuma wouldn't kill my parents." Kaminari said. "They were so cut up and in pain… she wouldn't kill them no matter how much they screamed…they were in so much pain…" She closed her eyes tightly. Naruto frowned. "I left the house and I was going to run away then one of the villagers attacked me and cut my eye… she took over again and slaughtered the rest of the village…" Kaminari sniffled and Naruto used his sleeve to wipe her tears. "She was so mad that they hurt me… I know she was trying to protect me but…b-but…"

"D-Don't cry Kaminari." Kaminari 'hic'ed and suddenly was gripping the front of Naruto's jacket with her head buried against his chest. He blinked in surprised and his cheeks turned red. He swallowed and wrapped his arms around her. She wasn't scary to him. He wasn't afraid of her. He wanted to help her. She was that broken little girl again the one he'd seen that night in the rain. "You stopped your parent's pain, you helped them. That doesn't make you a killer." He whispered as he held her tighter. Kaminari sobbed into his chest. "You're not a killer."

* * *

After a few minutes of them just standing there in the apartment Kaminari pulled away and looked at Naruto.

"Sorry." She chuckled closing her eyes. "Now your jacket's all wet… I didn't mean to just…dump all that on you just now… I just needed to let it out."

"I don't mind." Naruto said with a soft smile closing his eyes. "Whenever you need me I'll be there for you. So whenever you need to talk just come to me, I'll listen." Kaminari blushed slightly making her already red face a bit redder. She quickly kissed his cheek and his eyes snapped open. He stared blankly and his whole face, neck and ears turned red.

"Uh... N-Naruto?" He didn't blink. "Naruto?" She poked his cheek. He blinked and looked at her.

"A-Ahh!-" he took his arms from around her and turned away.

"Naruto? I-I'm sorry I shouldn't have-"

"No no no its okay." He turned back and waved his hands in front of him. His face was still pink. Kaminari looked away embarrassed. "H-hey we're still getting ramen after you meet your new team, right?"

"Y-Yeah." Kaminari nodded.

"So uh..." Naruto cleared his throat.

"We can leave now." Kaminari said. "Take the long way."

"Alright." Naruto said with a smile. The two left Kaminari's apartment. He felt a breeze blow his hair again and blinked. "Oh, Ina-Chan." He chuckled. His wrist was pulled towards Kaminari's hand and she looked at him when their hands bumped. "U-Uh, I-I'm not- I-Ina-Chan-" Naruto's hand was pulled to bump into Kaminari's again. Kaminari blushed but slipped her hand in his before looking forward. Naruto blushed and smiled to himself. "Thanks Ina-Chan." He whispered.

* * *

Kaminari knocked on the Hokage's office door.

"Enter." He called from inside. Kaminari opened the door and walked in, Naruto behind her. "Ah Kaminari and… Naruto." The Hokage sighed and looked annoyed.

"I'm only here to meet Kami-Chan's new team." Naruto said. The two noticed a man and two identical boys standing in front of the Hokage's desk. The three turned to look at the two.

"Kaminari this is your new team." The Hokage said. "Kiyoshi-sensei." He said. The man turned and nodded to her. He was tall with short spiky brown hair and matching deep brown eyes. He wore a jounin vest and wore a similar outfit as Kakashi's but with more black instead of blue. He had his headband with a black cloth around his neck. "And twins Akira and Akio Tsuji." The two boys looked at Kaminari with identical looks. The boys were the same height with the same short black hair and green eyes. They wore identical outfits; they each wore the same black shirts with fishnet reaching to their elbows and black wrist bands on each wrist. They wore blue and black shorts that reached their knees with weapon pouches attached to their right legs and blue ninja shoes. The only thing that told them apart was the fact that Akira had his headband around his upper right arm and Akio had his on his forehead with his hair covering it slightly.

"She's on our team now?" Akio asked.

"She doesn't look very strong." Akira said.

"What did you say you brats?!" Naruto shouted. "Kami-Chan is a chunin!"

"Chunin _level._" The Hokage corrected.

"She's still stronger than those two!" Naruto said pointing at the twins.

"Naruto." Kaminari said looking at him she put a hand on his arm lightly. He stopped but was still frowning. The two boys looked at each other.

"Why don't you four get to know each other while I speak with the Hokage." Kiyoshi said. The four left the room. Naruto glared at the twins and they glared back.

"So...ramen?" Kaminari asked quietly. Naruto took her hand and started to lead her to the ramen shop. The twins followed.

* * *

Kaminari sat down on one of the stools and before Naruto could sit down the twins were on either side of her. The twins looked at Naruto with impassive looks as he glared at them. He took the open seat next to Akira and the four ordered their ramen.

"So Kami-Chan," Akira said making Naruto's eye twitch.

"What happened to your old team?" Akio asked.

"You're a chunin right?"

"Why are you joining our team, eh Nari-Chan?" Naruto immediately decided he liked Akio better.

"Naruto was on my old team." Kaminari said.

"I can see why you left." Akio said. Naruto retracted his previous thought and glared at the two.

"I was an extra person on the team." Kaminari explained. Their ramen bowls were place in from of them and Naruto directed his glare to his bowl while he ate.

* * *

The four finished their bowls in silence. Akira took a napkin and wiped Kaminari's cheek.

"You had some on your face, Kami-Chan." He said.

"Oh." Kaminari put her hand on her cheek. "Thanks Akira-Kun." Naruto's jaw dropped and he glared at the first twin. Kaminari had never added 'kun' to his name.

"Hey Kami-Cha-"

"Nari-Chan." Akio said over Naruto, making Kaminari look at him. "I like your scar." He said closing his eyes in a smile. Kaminari blushed slightly and lowered her head to hide her face with her hair. Akira brushed the hair out of her face as Akio lifted her chin. Naruto practically had steam coming out of his ears. He grabbed her hand and pulled her off her stool. He started to storm away from the twins, dragging a confused Kaminari behind him. Suddenly her hand was pulled from his and he whirled around.

"Hey!" Kaminari blinked. The twins were hugging each of her arms.

"We're not done hanging out with Kami-Chan." Akira said. Kaminari blinked again.

"She's _our_ new teammate after all." Akio said. "Come on Nari-Chan."

"Bu-but-" Kaminari looked back at Naruto as the twins lifted her by her arms – she was shorter than them so it was easy for them – and started to walk away. She turned her head forward as the twins looked back at Naruto; they each stuck out their tongues and pulled a lower eyelid down.

"Errr!" Naruto glared with a growl and went after them. "Hey wait a minute!" The twins started to run. "Come back here with Kami-Chan!" The twins laughed as they ran. Kaminari simply allowed her be carried and blinked some more.

* * *

The two boys lost Naruto and put Kaminari down as they burst out laughing.

"Did you see his face?!" Akira laughed.

"He was so pissed!" The two said in unison. Akira put a hand on his brother's back to steady himself. Kaminari shifted awkwardly.

"_That_ guy was on your team?" Akio asked.

"Yeah." Kaminari said with a slight frown. "He's a lot stronger than he looks. He took down an S-rank criminal and his accomplice." The two boys looked at each other before they burst out laughing again, putting a hand on each other's shoulders. Kaminari glared at them then started to walk away.

"Aha ha- huh?" The two stopped laughing when they noticed her leaving. "Wait!"

"Nari-Chan!" The two ran after her.

"Kami-Chan!"

"Hang on!"

"Where are you going?" They asked in unison.

"I don't hang out with people who make fun of my friends." Kaminari said crossing her arms. The two boys blinked at each other and Kaminari started walking away again.

"Wait!" The two caught up again. "We didn't mean it!"

"Don't be mad at us." They said in unison. Kaminari looked away and kept walking.

"Apologize to Naruto, not me." She said before walking away.

* * *

Kaminari walked back to the ramen shop as Naruto slammed down his fourth bowl of ramen. She ducked under the flap and hopped onto the stool next to him. He glanced at her then did a double take.

"Kami-Chan?" He looked shocked that she was there. He looked at the counter as another bowl was placed in front of him. "I thought you were hanging out with your new team?" He asked without looking at her.

"I wanted to hang out with you." She said looking down at her hands. Naruto looked at her. She was playing with her hands and wouldn't look up. Naruto pushed the bowl of ramen so it was in front of her. She looked up at him and he smiled.

"I'm not mad at you, Kami-Chan." He said. Kaminari smiled back. Someone cleared their throat and the two turned around to see the twins. They mumbled something. "Huh?" Naruto raised an eyebrow. They mumbled again. "Speak up!"

"We're sorry." They force out. They looked from Naruto to Kaminari. Naruto crossed his arms and looked away with his eyes closed.

"Naruto." Kaminari said with a frown. He opened one eye to look at her and sighed.

"Fine, fine… You're forgiven." He muttered. The twins grinned and grabbed Kaminari. "Wha- Hey!" Naruto shouted.

"What?" The twins asked.

"You can't just take her away like that!" Naruto shouted.

"Why not?" The two whined.

"…Cause!"

"That's not a good answer!" The two yelled.

"U-Um.." Kaminari blinked. Naruto grabbed one of Kaminari's arms. The three began tugging her back and forth, arguing about who she should hang out with. Kaminari was starting to get dizzy from the rapid movement. Someone came around the corner and her eyes lit up. Sasuke blinked at the sight before him and Kaminari's pleading eyes. Sasuke sighed and within a second Sasuke had Kaminari in his arms five meters from the boys. The three stopped and looked over as Sasuke put Kaminari down. "Thanks Sasuke-kun." The twins looked annoyed while Naruto looked angry and upset. She used 'kun' with everyone but him. Naruto jumped over and picked Kaminari up before jumping away towards their building. "N-Naruto?!"

* * *

He put her down on the roof of their building and turned away.

"What's the matter?" Kaminari asked him.

"How come you call everyone 'kun' but me?" Naruto asked quietly.

"N-Naruto… it means I think of you as a close friend." He looked at her. Naruto had an 'oh' face.

"Then I'll just call you Kami from now on." He said.

"Uh, Naruto, not that I don't appreciate that but… don't address me as 'god'." Naruto blinked.

"Huh… then how about…"

"Kashi-nii calls me Nari."

"I don't wanna call you that. I want my own name for you… how about Kana… or Kari… or Mina! Yeah Mina!" Kaminari blinked.

"Or you could just call me Kaminari."

"Aww but that's no fun." Naruto whined.

"Well it _is_ my name." Kaminari said. Naruto crossed his arms and started to think.

"I'm gunna call you Ame." He said before grinning.

"Eh-Naruto, you can't rename me!"

"No no no, it's my special name for you!" Naruto explained. Kaminari blushed slightly making Naruto's face turn pink. "Your name means thunder, and Ina-Chan's means lightning, so I'll call you rain."

"Alright… then I'll call you…"

"You don't have to think of a name for me." He said shaking his head.

"Well I want to." Kaminari said crossing her arms with a pout. "…I can't think of anything."

"That's okay." He said.

* * *

The next day Naruto was walking with Kaminari on their way to their team's meeting spots when she was suddenly gone.

"Eh?! EH?!" Naruto looked around rapidly and saw the twins running away with her.

"Sorry!" Akio called.

"Not sorry!" Akira called after.

"We have training!" The two called in unison. Naruto glared after them.

"HEY!"

* * *

The twins didn't put Kaminari down until they reached the training grounds. Kaminari frowned and moved her arms around.

"I _can_ walk." She muttered.

"Yeah but we didn't wanna walk with Blondie." Akio said. Kaminari crossed her arms. "Sorry." He said with a sigh.

"Nice to see Kakashi's lateness didn't rub off on you." Kiyoshi said as he walked over. "We didn't officially meet yesterday, I'm Kiyoshi Hamasaki."

"Kaminari." She said.

"You've already met the twins." The two grinned. "Kakashi's told me a lot about you."

"Are you friends with Kashi-nii?" Kaminari asked. Kiyoshi smiled.

"We used to work together. I'm only a year younger than he is. I heard that you're at a chunin level." Kaminari nodded.

"But I'm still a Leaf genin."

"Well the boys were going to enter the chunin exam this year; they can't really without you so..." Kaminari smiled slightly.

"I was already planning on taking it; I just didn't have a team."

"Sweet!" The twins high fived. "There's no way we can fail with a chunin on our team!" They said excitedly. Kiyoshi chuckled.

"So today we're going to train in chakra control. Can anyone explain what I mean by this?" Kaminari grinned and raised her hand. 

* * *

"No fair Kami-Chan!" Akira called up to her, out of breath.

"Yeah, you already learned this Nari-Chan!" Akio called. Kiyoshi chuckled and looked up at the white haired girl who was sitting on a tree branch and carving a deep line into the wood. She was smiling and humming. She noticed something orange in the corner of her eye and saw Naruto walking up.

"Naru-Kun!" She called while waving. Naruto looked up with a slight blush. He saw the twins were trying to walk up the tree but they kept falling at two meters. Naruto snickered and walked past them and up the tree to sit next to Kaminari. He looked down to see the two boys looking up with their jaws open. They glared and looked at each other with determination before they continued to try and climb. Kaminari giggled quietly.

"So uh, 'Naru' huh?"

"Mhm. Do you not like it?"

"Hm? No its fine, Ame." He said with a smile. She blushed slightly, still not used to the nickname. Naruto chuckled watching the twins.

"Why are you laughing? That was you and Sasuke before." Naruto frowned.

"Well I can do it now so... Yeah." Naruto said with a pout as Kaminari giggled. Naruto smiled slightly.

* * *

**Next chapter starts Chunin Exam Arc and has the sand sibs.^_^ Yay. **

**How does everyone feel about this being Naruto/OC/Gaara?**

**If you also read/have read my Akatsuki Bouquet stories, I have a request form on my profile.**


	13. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its plot/characters. I only own my OCs and my plot and any changes made to the plot of the anime.**

**Once again uploading at school, probably going to upload the next chapter by the end of the period or when I get home if I get home early around 1:40ish)**

* * *

Kaminari left her apartment as Naruto was locking his door. He pulled his headband tightly around his head.

"Alright, wake up!" He said as he started stretching causing Kaminari to giggle. He turned around. "Huh? Oh, morning Ame, morning Ina-Chan!" He said with a big wave and a smile.

"Morning Naruto." Kaminari said with a small smile.

"Whacha up to today?"

"D missions." Kaminari said with a bored and annoyed tone.

"Same, but I'm going to totally out do Sasuke!" Kaminari smiled

"Good luck Naru-Kun." She said. Naruto smiled.

"I'll see you later Ame." Naruto said before running away. Kaminari chuckled.

* * *

Kaminari sighed as she clipped some branches of a woman's trees.

"Nari-Chan." Akio walked up to her. Kaminari looked at him.

"Yes Kio-chan?"

"When do you think we'll do a bigger mission?" He whined.

"Yeah." Akira said as he was putting the branches into bags. "You went on a C mission already. How many D missions did you do before that?" He asked sitting down.

"Hmm… we did a bunch but Naruto made a big deal about not doing real ninja missions and the Hokage gave us the C rank mission... which should have been an A or a B in actuality." The twins looked at her then each other. Kiyoshi walked over.

"Don't even think about bothering the Hokage because you don't want to do D rank missions." He said crossing his arms. The two boys whined. "You're not ready." Kaminari nodded.

"Even my old team wasn't that ready for it. We were against an S-Rank criminal."

"Wow." The two boys looked at her with wide eyes. "And you didn't die?!" They asked in unison. Kaminari's eye twitched.

"Uh no…"

"So what happened?"

"I… don't know… I got…knocked out…" She muttered. The two blinked.

"How the hell did your team survive if you're a chunin and you got knocked out?"

"I didn't get knocked out in a fight … something else happened…"

"What happened?" The two asked.

"Uhh-"

"Why don't we finish up?" Kiyoshi asked loudly with a smile. "We're almost done." He clapped his hands together. "Come on." The boys whined and got back to work. Kiyoshi walked over to Kaminari.

"Kakashi told me about uh…Inazuma." He said in a low voice. Kaminari lowered her head. "It's up to you when to explain it to the twins but, they're your team, it's important that they know." Kaminari nodded.

"I'll tell them after the chunin exam." She said. "If they don't accept it I don't want it to affect them taking it." Kiyoshi nodded.

* * *

After a few more D rank missions the twins and Kiyoshi went to the Hokage's office while Kaminari took the long route as suggested by Kiyoshi. She needed some time to figure out how to word the way she was going to tell the twins.

As she was walking she heard Naruto and his team. Sakura and Sasuke were talking and then Sasuke left. Kaminari turned the corner to see Kakashi poof away and Sakura and Naruto. Naruto noticed Kaminari and waved her over. She walked over as a box with two holes in it came up behind Naruto. Naruto heard it and turned around to see it. He took a few steps and it followed. Kaminari stopped and smirked in amusement and Naruto started to run around as the box followed. After a few moments Naruto stopped suddenly and turned around making the box stop. He pointed at it.

"That's the worse disguise of all time, there's no such thing as square rocks!" He shouted. "It's completely obvious!"

"You saw through my camouflage again!" Konohamaru's voice came out muffled under the box. "You're slick, boss, just what I'd expect from my greatest rival. Suddenly the box exploded and the three kids that were under it started coughing from the smoke. There was Konohamaru in the middle; on his left was an orange headed girl and his left a brown haired boy with glasses. They each had on goggles that looked similar to Naruto's old goggles. "I think we used a little too much gun powder guys." Konohamaru said coughing. The two looked up at Naruto and Kaminari and froze. Suddenly they each got up and did a pose while introducing themselves.

"I'm Moegi the sassiest konichi of preschool, check me out!" The girl said.

"I love algebra, call me Udon!" The boy with the glasses said.

"And I'm the number one ninja in the village, Konohamaru!" He said. "And when we're all together-

"We're the Konohamaru ninja squad!" They said in unison.

"Yeah, I knew it was you Konohamaru." Naruto said with his hands behind his head. "Hm, Hey what are those things, those goggles you're wearing on your head?" Konohamaru giggled.

"You used to wear goggles, remember, so we're copying you." Konohamaru said. Kaminari giggled.

"That's cute." She said.

"Uh." Naruto said.

"Hey! Come on boss! Why are you being like that? You outta be more excited!"

"So… did you want something?" Naruto asked.

"He's just tryin' to be cool." Konohamaru said to Udon quietly.

"You know what we want." Moegi said. "Are you busy now?"

"mmm.. I have to train, believe it!"

"What?!" Konohamaru asked. "But you promised that you would play ninja with us today. Come on!"

"Uh, heh heh, oh did I say that?" Naruto asked.

"ugh, a ninja playing ninja?" Sakura asked as she walked over. She looked a bit deflated from being shot down by Sasuke. "That is so twisted."

"Uh! Hey Sakura." Naruto said. She just looked at him. Naruto's face started turning red and he started laughing awkwardly.

"Hey boss, who's that girl anyway?" Konohamaru asked. Suddenly Konohamaru got an idea and started patting Naruto's back. "Ah, I get it you're a smooth operator boss."

"Uhhh."

"Come on I know that she's your…" Konohamaru held up his hand and popped his pinky up. "girlfriend." Sakura looked annoyed, Kaminari frowned and Naruto's face went red again.

"Heheh, well you can tell she's really crazy about me huh?" Naruto asked.

"That's it!" Sakura shouted as she punched Naruto.

"Boss!" Konohamaru shouted as Naruto went flying and crashed into the fence. "What kinda girlfriend are you?!" Moegi and Udon ran over to him.

"I think she cracked him." Moegi said.

"Oh no, we gotta check his pulse!" Udon said.

"You're a witch, and you're ugly too!" Konohamaru shouted. Sakura cracked her knuckles. Konohamaru suddenly looked terrified and took a few steps back as Sakura walked forward. He screamed.

* * *

Sakura walked away angry while Naruto and Konohamaru lay on the ground in pain with bumps on their heads. Udon kneeled next to Konohamaru. Kaminari crouched by Naruto.

"Hey Konohamaru are you okay?" Udon asked. The two got up groaning in pain.

"I don't even think she's human." Konohamaru said. "Did you see how wide her forehead is?" Sakura stopped walking.

"Um, Konohamaru, I would run." Kaminari said with her eyebrows raised as Sakura slowly turned around. She faced the five and suddenly started running at them. They five took off running. Konohamaru ran faster than everyone and crashed into someone. The six looked at the two people in front of them. There was an older teenage girl around 15 or 16 with blond hair and a large fan on her back. Next to her was a boy who was a year younger than her, with a large bundle on his back that was wrapped up. He was wearing black and had purple face paint on.

"Do you need something?" The boy Konohamaru crashed into asked.

"Konohamaru!" Naruto shouted as the boy picked up Konohamaru by his scarf and held him up.

"So, does this hurt punk?" The boy asked.

"Put him down Kankurō or you know you'll pay for it later." The blond girl said.

"Hey I'm sorry; the whole thing was my fault." Sakura said.

"You better take your hands off him right now!" Naruto shouted.

"We got a few minutes before _he_ gets here let's mess with these punks, huh?" Kankurō said.

"Let go'a me you jerk!" Konohamaru said as he tired kicking him.

"You're feisty but not for long." Kankurō tightened his grip. Naruto clenched his fists.

"Put him down!" Naruto shouted as he ran at Kankurō. Kankurō moved the fingers of his free hand and Naruto suddenly fell back. "What the-?! What was that?!"

"You're a leaf genin too? Looks like your village is fulla wimps." Kankurō said tightening his grip on Konohamaru.

"Konohamaru!" Naruto shouted and Moegi and Udon shouted after him.

"Hey! Cut it out." Konohamaru said. "It hurts." Naruto jumped up and pointed.

"That's it, drop him now or I take you apart! You got that, fool?!" He shouted. Sakura grabbed him in a headlock.

"You're the fool! Making threats isn't going to help, Naruto!" She shouted.

"You're annoying." Kankurō said. "All of you. I don't like runts or any other scrawny weaklings. So when a wimp like this starts shooting off his mouth. I just wanna break him in half." The blond girl sighed.

"Fine, I'm not involved in any of this, okay?" She said.

"First I'll take care'a this little squirt then I'll waste the other one!" Naruto ran forward with a yell as Kankurō pulled back his fist. Suddenly a rock hit Kankurō's hand making him drop Konohamaru. The rock rolled on the ground and Kankurō held his hand in pain. He turned and looked up to see Sasuke sitting in a tree throw a rock up and catching it.

"You're a long way from home and you're way outta your league." He said.

"Sasuke!" Sakura fangirled making Kaminari wince.

"Naurto!" Konohamaru ran back over to Naruto.

"Oh great another wimp to tick me off." Kankurō said. Sasuke caught the rock he was throwing and crushed it in his hand letting the dust fall.

"Get lost." Sasuke said.

"Ah! So cool!" Sakura exclaimed while Moegi started fangirling and Udon looked impressed.

"How come you're not cool like that, huh?!" Konohamaru asked Naruto.

"What'd ya mean? I coulda taken that guy out in two seconds flat." Naruto said crouching in front of Konohamaru. Suddenly Kankurō's head moved forward as if someone had hit him in the back of the head and he made a noise of suprise. Kaminari's eyebrows went up.

"What the-?" Kankurō looked up at Sasuke who was looking at Kaminari who swallowed.

"Huh-?" Naruto looked over. "Ina-Chan?" Kaminari gave Naruto a 'stop talking' look and he gave her a sheepish smile.

"Was that you, brat?" Kankurō asked. Kaminari shook her head silently, not changing her facial expression. It was true; she technically wasn't the one who hit him. Kankurō glared at her before looking up at Sasuke. "Hey punk, get down here." Kankurō said. "You're the kinda pesky little snob I hate the most all attitude and nothin ta back it up." He took the buddle off his back and stood it up in front of him.

"What? Are you gunna use the crow for this?!" The blond girl asked.

"Kankurō, back off." Someone said. On the opposite side of the tree where Sasuke was, a red headed boy was standing upside down with his arms crossed. There was a large gourd on his back and he had dark circles around his eyes as well as the kanji for 'love' on his forehead. "You're an embarrassment to our village." Kankurō suddenly looked nervous.

"Uh- I- Hey Gaara." He said.

"Have you forgotten the reason we came all the way here?" Gaara asked.

"Uh I know." Kankurō said. "I-I mean they challenged us." Kankurō chuckled nervously. "They started the whole thing really. See here's what happened-"

"Shut up." Gaara said. Kankurō flinched. "Or I'll kill you."

"Uh right." Kankurō said. "I was totally outta line. I- I'm sorry Gaara, I was totally outta line." Gaara turned his head to look at the Naruto and the others.

"I'm sorry for any trouble he caused." Gaara said. He and Sasuke looked at each other before Gaara teleported with sand to stand by Kankurō and the girl. "Let's go. We didn't come here to play games."

"Alright, sure, I get it." Kankurō said.

"Hold on!" Sakura said. Kaminari sighed. The three ignored her. "Hey!"

"What?" The blond girl asked. "I can tell from your headband that you come from the village hidden in the sand. Of course the land of fire and the land of wind are allies but no shinobi can enter others village without permission. So state your purpose and it better be good." Kaminari face palmed. The three turned around.

"And they call you the smart one." Kaminari said shaking her head. Sakura looked at her with a confused frown. Kaminari sighed in annoyance. "Chunin exam." She said bluntly.

"So we have permission." The blond girl held up a passport like ID. "Of course you're correct, we are hidden sand genin; our home is the land of the wind and we're here for the chunin exam."

"The chunin exam, what's that?" Naruto asked. Kaminari gave him a 'really' look.

"How do you think I became a chunin, Naru?" She asked.

"Well I've never heard of any chunin exams, believe it." Naruto said.

"I believe it alright, that you're totally clueless."

"Hey boss those are the exams that genin's got to take in order to graduate to being a full on chunin."

"Oh well why didn't you say so? I am so there!" Naruto said excitedly. Sasuke jumped down from the tree.

"Hey, you!" He called. "Identify yourself."

"Hm?" The blond stopped to look back. "You mean me?"

"No him. The guy with the gourd on his back." Sasuke pointed. Kankurō stopped and Gaara turned around.

"My name is Gaara of the desert." He turned to fully face him. "I'm curious about you too. Who are you?"

"I am Sasuke Uchiha."

"Hi there! I bet you're dying to know my name, right?" Naruto asked.

"I couldn't care less." The three turned around. A breeze blew Gaara's hair but no one else's. He glanced back and looked at Kaminari for a brief second before the three jumped away.

"Hey Konohamaru, do I seem uncool or something?" Naruto asked.

"Well compared to Sasuke, yeah you're pretty lame." Konohamaru said.

"Argg! You're not gunna show me up Sasuke!"

"Back off loser." Sasuke said. Kaminari sighed. She looked over at Sakura and saw her looking at her warily.

"Whatever you're thinking, just say it." Kaminari said without looking at Sakura.

"Huh? I wasn't thinking anything." Sakura said quickly.

"Yes you were." Kaminari said. "You haven't spoken to me since we got back from the land of waves." Kaminari looked at Sakura. "So just say what's on your mind." Sakura started to laugh a bit nervously.

"There's nothing on my min-" She said waving a hand dismissively.

"You're afraid of me aren't you?"

"What? No-"

"Seriously, Sakura, just say it."

"Fine!" Naruto and the others looked at Sakura. "Back in the land of waves you scared me alright?!"

"I'm not a danger to you or anyone else." Kaminari said shaking her head.

"How do I know that? You broke Zabuza's arm and cut off Haku's hand just by _looking at them_!" Kaminari looked down.

"Sakura!" Naruto shouted with a frown.

"How do I know that you won't snap again and hurt one of us?! Or worse kill us!"

"Because you're my fr-" Kaminari stopped herself and swallowed. She felt a pain in her chest and glared at the ground. She turned away from the group and started walking away. "You don't." She said before leaving.

It was slowly reverting back to the way it used to be; only this time people had a reason to be afraid of her. Kaminari turned the corner and heard Naruto call after her but she started running before he could turn the corner. When he did she was gone.

* * *

Black clouds rolled in overhead and rain started pouring. Kaminari held out her hand and saw that the rain was hitting an invisible barrier an inch off her skin.

"Thanks Zuma." She said quietly.

She kept walking down the road and saw the three sand genin taking shelter from the rain. The girl looked annoyed while the older boy looked bored. The youngest was looking at her. His eyes narrowed seeing the rain wasn't touching her. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed. Kankurō noticed her and looked confused about her being dry. He nudged the girl with his elbow and she looked over. Kaminari sighed and turned her head away as she walked away.

Kaminari walked to Team Kiyoshi's meeting spot where the twins were already waiting for her and Kiyoshi. They sat on a small stone wall under cover from the rain and were kicking their feet and looking bored. The second they started to turn their heads to look at her Kaminari was suddenly drenched as the barrier went away. Their faces lit up when they saw her.

"Hey Kami/Nari-chan!" They greeted in unison. She nodded slightly and sat down in between them when they both moved over to make a spot for her.

"This rain came out of nowhere huh?" Akira said leaning forward to look at the sky.

* * *

A few minutes later Kiyoshi appeared and held out three slips.

"These are your chunin exam admission forms." He said. The three each took the one with their names. The twins were grinning at theirs and looked excited. "Just sign the and in five days go to room 301 at the academy at 3:00pm."

"Awesome." The twins said bouncing in their seats. Kaminari stared at her form.

* * *

**Yay Chunin Exam Arc**


	14. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its plot/characters. I only own my OCs and my plot and any changes made to the plot of the anime.**

**During the second phase of the exam I'm going to have a chapter or two of org. content about some of the teams "living" at the tower while waiting for the time to run out. There will be not exactly romantic Gaara/Kaminari.**

* * *

Kaminari was sitting by her window when someone started banging on her door.

"Nari-Chan!"

"Kami-Chan!" Kaminari got up and opened the door. She raised her eyebrow at the twins.

"How did you find out where I lived?" She asked.

"We followed Blondie." Akira said.

"Come on, we gotta get to the academy." Akio said.

"The exam doesn't start for another-." Kaminari said looking back into her apartment to see her clock.

"But we gotta get there early so we can make sure we're in!" They shouted. Kaminari sighed.

"Alright." She said. "Just let me get ready." She said before closing her door.

* * *

Kaminari went into her bedroom and to her closet. She pulled out a black sleeveless turtleneck, tight black shorts that went a few inches above her knees and a black skirt to put over it. She grabbed her boots and headband before leaving the apartment.

"Hey! We match!" The twins said with big grins. Kaminari noticed that instead of their normal blue and black they were wearing all black.

"Come on, come on!" Akira said as he and Akio grabbed Kaminari's hands before they started pulling her.

* * *

The three got to the academy and saw Naruto and Sasuke waiting.

"Hey Ame!" Naruto called with a big wave.

"Hey Naru-kun." Kaminari gave him a small smile. "Where's Sakura?"

"I dunno, she's late." Naruto said with a frown.

"Well, see you inside." Akio said as he and Akira started to pull her inside. Naruto yelled after them but they were already gone.

* * *

The three walked up to room 301 where two boys were blocking the door. Kaminari looked at the door number and started to walk down the hallway.

"Huh? Nari-Chan where are you going?" Akira asked.

"To room 301." She said.

"But it's right there." Akio said pointing back down the hall.

"We're only on the second floor." She said. The twins looked at each other.

"Huh?"

"Come on." The two looked at her before running after her.

"How do you know?" Akira asked.

"Genjutsu." Kaminari said simply.

* * *

The three went up the stairs to the third floor and went into the real room 301.

"There's _a lot_ of people here." Akira said as he and his brother looked around with wide eyes. The room was packed with ninja who looked much older than them as well as ninja close to their age.

"That's a lot of competition." Akio muttered. The two gulped. Kaminari kept an impassive face and glanced around the room. Kaminari looked at them.

"We didn't come here to back down because there're a lot of people." She said. The twins nodded and got serious expressions on their faces.

"You're right." Akio said pumping a fist.

"Yeah." Akira said also pumping both fists. The doors opened behind them and Naruto and the others walked in.

"Ame." Naruto said with a smile. The smile went away and the three looked shocked when they saw when everyone in the room.

"Oh yeah, you guys this is my new team." Kaminari said. The twins looked at Sakura and Sasuke. They looked unimpressed by Sasuke.

"Sasuke where've you been?" Ino said as she hugged him around his neck from behind with a giggle. Sasuke looked back at her annoyed. "Boy you have no idea how much I was hoping you'd show up here. I've missed those grooving good looks of yours." Sakura looked angry.

"Hey you porker, back off, he's mine!" Sakura shouted at her while pointing.

"Miss Forehead, they let you in? Still got those big frown-lines on your big brow I see."

"Leave my forehead out of it!" Sakura shouted. Ino stuck out her tongue and pulled her lower eye lid down. Akira poked his brother when his he wasn't blinking.

"Kio?" Akira waved his hand in front of his face. "Kiooo." Akira looked back and forth to see what he was looking at and followed Akio's line of sight to see he was staring at Ino. Akira made a face. "Really?" He asked.

"Oh it's you guys." Shikamaru said as he and Chouji walked over, Chouju was eating chips.. "I knew this was gunna be a drag but I didn't know it was going to be this lame."

"So all three stooges are here." Naruto said.

"Hey you know what pipsqueak- ah forget it, you're a waste of time."

"Sorry, but Sasuke's all mine." Ino said pulling her eye lid down again.

"Well well, what do you know?" Kiba said as he – with Akamaru on his head – , Shino and Hinata walked over. "It looks like the whole gang is back together again with two extras." He said looking at the twins.

"Oh hi Naruto." Hinata said in a soft voice.

"Hm?" Naruto looked at her causing her to blush.

"You guys too huh?" Shikamaru asked. "Man, everyone's here for this stupid thing."

"Yep, here we all are." Kiba said. "The 9 rookies hahaha…uh…" He looked at Kaminari and the twins. "Oh, Kaminari, didn't see you there." He chuckled. "So uh who's this?" He nodded to the twins.

"The Tsuji twins." Kaminari said. The two smirked. "Akira and Akio."

"Well this is gunna be fun." Kiba said. "At least for those of us good enough to make the cut. Right Sasuke?"

"Kiba, careful you don't get over confident." Sasuke said with a smirk.

"Just wait, we're gunna blow you guys away." Kiba said. "We've been training like crazy."

"What do you think we've been doin'?" Naruto asked. "Sittin' around pickin daises?" He pointed. "You don't know what training means."

"Uh, don't mind Kiba." Hinata said while pushing her fingers together. "I'm sure he didn't really mean anything by it."

"Huh?" Naruto asked making Hinata blush again.

"Hm?" Kiba looked at her and Akamaru barked. Chouji took a step towards Kiba but Shino stepped in front of him.

"What do you want?" Chouji asked. "What's wrong?" He looked down to see where Shino was looking and saw a bug crawling in front of where Chouji was about to step.

"Thought maybe you hadn't seen it." Shino said.

"Huh?"

"Didn't want you stepping on it." Shino said.

"Why? You savin' it for lunch?" Chouji asked.

"Hey you guys." A boy called walking over. He had grey hair and glasses. "You might wanna try keeping it down a little. I mean no offence you're the ten rookies right? Fresh outta the academy. I wouldn't go making a spectacle of yourselves. Just cool it. This isn't a class field trip.

"Well who asked you?" Ino asked. "Who are you?"

"I'm Kabuto Yakushi." He said. "But really look around you," the group looked around. "You've made quite an impression." Everyone else in the room was looking over at them. Everyone had a serious face and some were glaring harshly. "See those guys they're from the rain village, very touchy, they all are. This exam makes everyone tense and you don't wanna rub them the wrong way right now. You can't help it. I mean how could you know how things work, you're just rookies. You remind me of myself a while back."

"Kabuto, is that your name?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah."

"This isn't the first time you've taken the exam?"

"No it's… my seventh." He said.

"Huh?" Shikamaru looked confused.

"Well they're held twice a year, so this will be my fourth year."

"Wow, veteran, you must really be an expert by now."

"Yeah, sort of." Kabuto said.

"Cool, you can give us all the inside tips." Naruto said.

"Yeah some expert, he's never passed." Shikamaru said.

"Well seventh times the charm." Kabuto said scratching the back of his head. "That's what they say huh?"

"So I guess all of those rumors about the exam being tough are true." Shikamaru said. "Aw man I knew this was gunna be a drag."

"They can't be that hard." Naruto said. "Kaminari passed when she was six!" Everyone looked at Kaminari who had her eyes closed. She sighed.

"Naru… you need to learn to be quieter." She said as she opened her eyes. Everyone looked back at the rest of the people in the room and saw them looking at them again. "Besides, Inazuma was a big help." She added quietly to Naruto. "I was in a different village then." Kaminari explained.

"Hang on, don't give up hope yet." Kabuto said. "Maybe I can help you kids out a little." He reached into his pocket and pulled out some cards. "With my… info ninja cards."

"What the heck are those?" Sakura asked.

"It's hard to explain but these cards have been chakra encoded with everything I've learned over the past for years." Kabuto placed the cards on the ground and crouched in front of them. "I've got more than 200 of them. So you see I haven't been completely wasting my time. They made not look like much to the naked eye, in fact," He flipped over the first card, it was blank. "They appear blank. Don't want just anyone seeing this stuff." He spun the card around with one finger.

"What are you doing?" Sakura asked.

"You see I'm using my chakra to reveal their secrets, like this for example." He brought his other hand up and the card suddenly changed to reveal a picture with the nations and their hidden village symbols. On each was a green bar.

"Awesome, a map." Sakura said "Of what?"

"It shows the geographical distribution of all the candidates who have come to take the chunin exam, what villages they come from and how many from each village. Why do you guys think they all come here to take the exam together at the same time?" He looked around but no one answered. "It's to foster friendship between nations of course. International brotherhood and all that, and it's true enough as far as it goes."

"But there's another reason." Sasuke said.

"Yeah, you see the important thing is that this way they can carefully regulate the total number of shinobi that end up in each village, thereby maintaining the balance of power."

"Oh yeah, balance of power," Naruto said.

"Balance of power, big deal, it's all a drag." Shikamaru said. Kabuto made the card blank again.

"If the balance isn't maintained one nation could wind up with many more shinobi than its neighbors and it might be tempted to attack them." Kabuto said. "So they try to maintain the status quo. Makes sense I suppose.

"Do those cards of yours have any info on the other candidates, individually?" Sasuke asked.

"They might." Kabuto said. "You have someone special in mind?"

"I might."

"Well I can't promise my information is complete or perfect." Kabuto put the one card back and straightened the deck. "But I've got something on just about everyone. Including you guys of course, so which one is it? Tell me anything you know about them, a description, where they're from, whatever." He held up a card. "Anything at all."

"He's Gaara of the desert and there's Rock Lee of the Leaf Village while you're at it."

"Man that's no fun, you even know their names, that makes it easy." Kabuto said. He swiped his hand over the cards and held up two. "Here they are."

"Show'em to me."

"Okay, first up is Rock Lee." Kabuto said as he spun the first card. It revealed Lee's card. "Looks like he's about a year older than you guys. Mission experience, 11 C ranks and 20 D ranks. His squad leader is Gai. In the last twelve months his Taijutsu has radically improved but his other skills are pretty shaky. Last year he got a lot of attention as a genin but for some reason he chose not to participate in the chunin exam. This will be his first time as a candidate same as you guys. His team mates are Tenten and Neji Hyuga."

"Huh? Hyuga?" Naruto asked. Kabuto put the second card down.

"Okay, now for Gaara of the desert. Mission experience eight C rank and get this one B rank as a genin. There's not a lot more information on this guy. He was a rookie from another land originally but there is this he survived every mission without getting a scratch on his."

"The dude's done a B rank as a genin and has never even been injured?" Shikamaru asked.

"What's the deal with this guy?" Naruto asked. Kabuto took out another card and showed the map again.

"Leaf, Sand, Rain, Grass, Waterfall, Sound. From the looks of it they're all sent exceptionally good candidates to the exam this time around. Of course, the hidden sound village is small, it sprang up recently and no one knows anything about it. Those guys are a mystery." Kabuto put the cards away. "Well you get the point, the competition is going to be intense this year."

"So it would seem. It's almost enough to make you lose your confidence." Hinata said.

"It's a fine time to start talking like that!" Ino said.

"Do you really think it's going to be tougher this time?" Sakura asked.

"Oh yeah, in the four years I've been coming I've _never_ seen a crop of candidates with as much potential as this bunch. Yep we've got our work cut out for us." Sakura noticed Naruto was bent over slightly and was shaking.

"Hey, don't worry Naruto we'll be fine." She said. Naruto suddenly yelled and pointed at the rest of the room.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I'm gunna beat every one of ya! Believe it!"

"Hey! What's the idiot trying to do?! Get us killed?!" Ino screamed. "Tell your boyfriend to keep his big fat trap shut!"

"Whose boyfriend?!"

"Oh I forgot you can't get one!"

"What'd you say?!"

"Yeah, I feel a lot better now." Naruto said putting his arms behind his head. Kabuto stood up.

"Uh, can you say that again a little louder?" Kiba asked. "Didn't quite catch it."

"You moron." Shikamaru said. "Are you trying to get everybody in the place to hate our guts or what?" Naruto laughed. Sakura grabbed Naruto in a headlock.

"Naruto! You idiot! Why'd you go and say something like that?! You obnoxious little-!" Sakura stopped and looked at the rest of the room. "Oh hey everyone heh don't mind him. Sometimes he just says these spazy things he doesn't really mean them they just kinda come out! He's got this uh condition you know kinda a psychological thing he really should be on medication. Now see what you've done Naruto! You hurt everybody's feelings they think you don't respect them but that isn't true, is it Naruto?!" The three sound villages ninja suddenly moved through the crowd. Kankurō started to take the bundle off his back but Gaara put his arm out to stop him. "Would you just for once in your life think about what you're doing?! Think about the rest of us!" Sakura continued to scold Naruto.

"Fine." Naruto said. Suddenly one of the sound ninja attacked, throwing two kunai at Kabuto. He slid back out of the way and another popped up. The sound ninja went to punch Kabuto but he dodged it. Kabuto smirked but suddenly his glasses broke and the glass fell out.

"Oh I get it, so it was that kind of attack." Kabuto said before taking off his glasses.

"Hang on, I saw it all, he dodged the attack." Sasuke said. "How did that happen?"

"It must have come closer than it looked." Shikamaru said. "Cheh, look at him acting like it was nothing. Real tough guy." Kaminari sighed. Suddenly Kabuto fell to his knees and threw up.

"What? Did he just-?" Naruto asked.

"Kabuto what's wrong?" Sakura asked. "What is it?" Kabuto coughed.

"Hey, Kabuto." Naruto and Sakura rushed over to him.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said.

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked.

"Not such a tough guy after all I guess." The sound ninja that attacked him said. "Maybe that's why he's on his seventh try."

"Write this on your little card, punk:" The other said. "The genin from the sound village will be chunin when this is over, guaranteed." Kaminari scoffed. He looked at her. "You got something to say kid?" Everyone turned to look at her.

"Yeah." She said. "You're definitely not going to even make it to the final part of the exam." She said. "_Guaranteed_." She added with a smirk. The sound ninja glared at her.

"Oh yeah? You're not making it to tomorrow, princess." He growled. Kaminari only smirked. Suddenly there was an explosion of smoke in the back of the room.

"Alright you baby-faced degenerates, Pipe down and listen up!" The smoked cleared to reveal a large group of ninja with a ninja in a black coat in the front. He had multiple scars on his face. "It's time to begin. I'm Ibiki Morino your proctor and from this moment your worst enemy."

* * *

**So I might post the next later tonight or tomorrow morning. Idk. **

**Tell me how I'm doing guys. I know there's a lot of things from the show but I'll add in more Kaminari and more Tsuji twins later. Like I said in the top A/N that I will have a few chapters at the tower with Kaminari and the other teams.**


	15. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its plot/characters. I only own my OCs and my plot and any changes made to the plot of the anime.**

**Wow no one noticed that I skipped the first part of the exam. O-O I didn't mean to it just happened.**

**I know I know this story is a disappointment. I get it.**

* * *

"First, you candidates from the village hidden in the sound." Ibiki pointed. "Knock it off! Who told you you could fight? You want to be failed before we've even begun?!"

"Sorry, it's our first time. Guess we're a little jumpy." The sound ninja with the wrappings on his face said. "Sir."

"I'll say this once so listen up. There will be no combat between candidates. No attacking each other without the permission of your proctor. And even then the use of fatal force is strictly prohibited. Anyone who even thinks of messing with me will be disqualified immediately. Got it?"

"Hmph, no fatal force? That's no fun." The sound ninja said.

"Now if we're ready we'll proceed to the first stage of the Chunin exam." Ibiki said. "Hand over your paperwork. In return you'll each be given a number. This number determines where you will sit. We'll start the written test once you're all seated."

"The what?" Naruto asked. "Did he say… written?" One of the ninja behind Ibiki held up a large stack of paper. "No! Not a written test! No way!"

* * *

Everyone was handed a number went into the testing room. Kaminari sat down in her assigned seat. After a moment Kankurō sat down next to her. He made a noise and she glanced at him without moving her head.

* * *

"Everyone eyes front." Ibiki said tapping a piece of chalk on the board. "There are a few rules you need to be aware of and I won't answer any questions." He tapped the chalk on the bored a few more times. "So you better pay attention the first time around." Ibiki started writing on the board. "Alright, rule number one is this: the written part of the exam is conducted on a point reduction system. Contrary to what some of you may be used to. You all begin the test with a perfect score of 10 points. One point will be deducted for each answer you get wrong. So if you miss three your final score will be seven. Rule number two: Teams will pass or fail based on the total scores of all three members." Sakura's head hit the table.

"What?! Wait a second! You're saying we all get scored as a team?!" She screamed.

"Silence. I have my reasons so shut up and listen. Rule number three: The sentinels you see positioned around the room are there to watch you carefully for any signs of cheating. And for every incidence they spot they will subtract two points from the culprits score."

"What?"

"Huh?"

"Be warned their eyes are extremely shot and if they catch you five times you'll be dismissed before the tests are even scored." Ibiki said. "Anyone fool enough to be caught cheating by the sentinels doesn't deserve to be here." Kaminari smirked slightly.

"I've got my eye on you guys." One of them said.

"If you want to be considered shinobi then show us what exceptional shinobi you can be. One more thing, if any candidate should get a zero and fail the test then the entire team fails." Kaminari looked over to see Naruto gulp. "The final question won't be given out until 15 minutes before the of the testing period. You'll have one hour total."

* * *

The test was handed out and Ibiki watched the clock as the second hand moved. It ticked to 12.

"Begin!" He shouted. Everyone flipped over the paper and started. Kaminari looked at the problems and frowned before looking at Naruto. She looked back at her paper then closed her eyes.

**Kami Chan.**

Kaminari's eyes opened.

**Just like last time.**

Inazuma, not having a physical form, could freely look about the room.

_Okay. Find the plants._

Kaminari thought back.

**Got 'em.**

She heard a giggle from the other girl and started writing on her paper. Kankurō glanced over and looked a bit surprised when she started answering questions. He glanced at her paper and she blocked his view with her arm. He glared and she smirked at him.

* * *

Soon more and more ninja figured out the real purpose of the test. Gaara used his sand, Kankurō used his puppet 'crow' as an extra sentinel, Kiba used Akamaru, the sound ninja listened to pencil strokes, Shino used his bugs, Tenten had strings attached to her pencil and to a mirror above her to give Lee the answers.

Naruto was still freaking out and hadn't completed any questions. Kaminari was almost finished. Hinata showed Naruto her paper. A kunai was thrown in front of his face and landed in another ninja's paper scaring them both.

"W-What the-?" The boy stood. "What was that all about?"

"Five strikes and you're out." One of the sentinels said to him. "You just failed the test."

"What? It can't be."

"You and your team mates will leave the room immediately." Two other boys stood up and started to leave. "Candidate number 23, fail. Number 27 and 43 fail."

"It's not fair! I didn't do anything!" The boy screamed as he was dragged out. "I didn't do anything!"

"No, no way! Who says I cheated five times!" One guy from the sand village asked standing up. "Where's your proof?! How can you keep track of all of us?! You got the wrong guy! How do you know I wasn't just-"Suddenly one of the sentinels hit the guy and pinned him to the wall.

"Sorry pal. We were chosen for this duty because we don't make mistakes like that. You can't even blink without us seeing it. We're the best of the best and you my friend are history." He let the guy go. "Now get out. Take your teammates with you." Two other guys looked upset before the three left. Neji used his Byakugan while Sasuke used his Sharingan. Ino used her mind transfer jutsu against Sakura.

"Number 59, you fail." A sentinel said.

"Numbers 33 and 9, fail." Another said.

"Number 41, fail."

"Numbers 35 and 62 fail."

"Hey no way!"

* * *

Gaara covered one eye and created an eye made out of sand. He crushed it and it moved to a boy. Sand got in his eyes so he closed them and rubbed them. While the boy wasn't looking the eye appeared and looked at the answers. Gaara began writing answers.

"Ah, excuse me." Kankurō said raising his hand. Kaminari glanced at him.

"What is it?" A sentinel asked.

"Gotta use the can, sorry." He said sheepishly. Kankurō was then handcuffed with a rope attached to it. A sentinel held it.

"We go with you to make sure you're not up to anything."

"That's perfectly understandable." Kankurō said with a smile as the sentinel took him out of the room.

* * *

"Alright, listen up." Ibiki said at the 15 minute mark. "Here's the tenth and final question. But before I give you the question there are some more rules that you need to be aware of." The door in the back opened and Kankurō stepped inside. "Ah, made it just in time. I hope you found your trip to the bathroom enlightening. Well, take your seat." Kankurō went back to his seat, dropping a small pill sized object in front of Tamari on the way. "These rules are unique to question 10. Listen carefully and try not to let them frighten you." Ibiki said. "Very well then, rule number one: each of you is free to choose not to be given the final question; it's your decision.

"Woah, so what's the catch? Let's say we decide we don't wanna do it. What happens then?" Tamari asked.

"If you choose not to take the tenth question, regardless of your answers to the other nine, you'll get a zero. In other words, you fail. And that means of course that both your teammates fail as well." Everyone started murmuring to each other. "Not so fast, you didn't let me finish. If you do accept the question but answer it incorrectly you will not only fail… you will be barred from taking the chunin exam ever again!"

"Hey that's bull man! That's ridiculous!" Kiba said standing up and pointing. "What kind of bogus rule is that?! There's lots of people here who've taken the test before!" Akamaru barked in agreement. Ibiki chuckled then laughed.

"I guess you're just, unlucky. I wasn't making the rules before, but I am now. Of course if you don't want to take it, you don't have to. If you're not feeling confident then by all means skip it. You can come back and try again next year." Ibiki laughed again. Kaminari looked around at Akira and Akio. They looked back and both shook their heads with grins. Kaminari smiled. Her team was safe. "Now then, if you're ready, the tenth and final question, those who don't want to take it raise your hand. Your number will be recorded and then you're free to go." Kaminari looked at Naruto. The guy next to Naruto raised his hand.

"I'm out." He said. He stood. "That's it. I'm out. I just can't do it. I'm sorry."

"Number 50, fail. Number 130, number 110, that means you're out too." A sentinel said.

"Genai, Inaho, I'm sorry guys." Two other boys stood. "I'm sorry."

"That's it, I quit!" Another guy raised his hand.

"Me too sir, I'm out." Another raised their hand. A bunch of other people started raising their hands. They all left the room. Kaminari looked back at Naruto she glanced at Sasuke and Sakura then back. Sakura started to raise her hand but Naruto did. His arm shook and he suddenly slammed his hand down on the table.

"Don't underestimate me! I don't quit and I don't run! You can act tough all you want; you guys aren't gunna scare me off! No way! I don't care if I do get stuck as a genin for the rest of my life!" He stood. "I'll still be Hokage someday!" Kaminari smiled and Naruto sat back down with his arms crossed.

"This decision is one that could change your life." Ibiki said. "If for any reason you would rather quit, now's your last chance."

"No way, I never go back on my word. That's the way of the ninja." Naruto said. The others in the room either smiled or smirked. Ibiki looked around the room. Some of the sentinels nodded to him and he nodded back.

"Well then, I admire your determination if nothing else." Ibiki said. "but those of you remaining there's only one thing left to do. And that's for me to tell you: That you've all passed the first exam."

"Wah- Hold on!" Sakura stood up. "What just happened?! What do you mean we passed? We're the tenth question?!" Ibiki smiled and laughed.

"There never was one. Not a written one at least. Actually your decision to stay was the answer to the tenth question."

"Huh?"

"Wait a second!" Sakura looked back at Tamari. "So the other nine questions you gave us were just a waste of time! Is that what you're saying?!"

"No no, not at all." Ibiki said. "Quite the opposite. The first nine questions had an important overriding purpose. To test your ability to surreptitiously gather strategic intelligents under the most adverse circumstances."

"Oh, well that clears up everything." Tamari said.

"Let me explain. You see my objective was to test you not only as individuals but as a team and how well you function as a part of a team. That's why the test was scored on a team basis so you'd know that everything you did or failed to do would directly affect your teammates. I wanted to see how you'd handle the pressure."

"Mhm." Naruto nodded. "Yeah I figured it was somethin like that, that's why I kept my cool."

"The first nine questions on the test were difficult. In fact as you may have realized too difficult for any genin to be expected to solve. I imagine that most of you quickly came to that conclusion. That you'd have to cheat if you had any chance of passing. The fact is, the test was designed to encourage cheating. It almost demanded it. Of course it would've done you little good unless you had someone to cheat from. So I disguised two chunin, who already knew the answers and had them sit in with you." Two guys raised their hands in waves.

"Oh come on, I wasn't fooled for a second." Naruto said putting his arms behind his head. "You had to be a complete doofus to not see it. Isn't that right Hinata?"

"Those who were caught at it failed." Ibiki said. "Better not to cheat than to cheat clumsily." He took off his headband/bandana. His bald head was covered in scars and marks. "Information, it can be the most valuable weapon in battle. How well you gather intelligence can determine whether a mission's a failure or success. There'll be times you have to risk your life to get it."

"Man what a mess." Sasuke said. "Scars and puncture wounds, burn marks … what he must have endured." Naruto gulped. Ibiki put his headband back on.

"Of course you much always consider the source of your information. Intelligence gathered from an enemy is not necessarily accurate. Always bare this in mind. Disinformation can be worse than no information at all. It can lead to the death of comrades or the loss of a village. That's why I put you in the position where you had to gather accurate intelligence. Cheat in order to survive. And that's why those who weren't good enough at it were weeded out, leaving the rest of you."

"Okay, but I'm still not getting what the tenth question thing is all about." Tamari said.

"You're not? The tenth question was the main point of the whole exam, surely you see that."

"Sure, but explain it anyway." Sakura said.

"AS I said before the goal was to test you not only as individuals but as part of a squad. The final question gave you two choices." Ibiki held up two fingers. "Both difficult. You could choose to play it safe and skip the question though it meant that both you and your teammates would fail or you could try and answer knowing if you got it wrong you would lose your chance of ever being Chunin. It was a no win situation. But just the sort Chunin have to face every day. For example let me give you a hypothetical mission: To steal a document from an enemy stronghold. You have no idea how many ninja the enemy has or how heavily armed they are. Furthermore, you have reason to believe that the enemy expects you, that you might very well be walking blindly into a trap. Now do you have the option of taking a pass on this insane mission? Of saying my comrades and I would rather live to fight another day? Can you choose to avoid danger? _No_. There will be many missions that will seem almost suicidal if you think about it. But you do not think about it you think only of the goal and achieving it through courage and discipline. These are the qualities required of a chunin squad leader. Those who choose the safer of two paths , those whose determination falters in the face of adversity, those who would put their comrades lives in jeopardy by worrying about their own, those who would save their own necks at the price of sacred honor will never be able to call themselves chunin. At least as long as I'm here. As for the rest of you, you have successfully answered the ten questions I've put to you. You have earned the right to continue on to the next step. You have passed through the first gate. I hereby declare this part of the chunin selection exam completed. There's nothing left but to wish you all good luck."

"All right! We did it! That's one down" Naruto shouted. "Yeah yeah! Woohoo!" Everyone looked at him. Suddenly something crashed through the window. Two kunai were thrown and got stuck in the sealing becoming a sort of back curtain for the woman standing in front of it. "Is this part of the test?!"

"Heads up boys and girls this is no time to be celebrating!" The woman said. On the curtain behind her it said 'here comes the second test proctor: Anko Minarashi. "I'll be your next proctor Anko Minarashi. Ready for the second test? Good then let's go follow me!" She said with her fist in the air.

"You're early, again." Ibiki said peeking around the curtain. Anko's face had a slight pink to it.

"How many are there?" She asked Ibiki. "Ibiki, you let all these guys pass? Your test was too easy. You must be getting soft."

"Or it could be a stronger crop of candidates this year."

"Hmm, they sure don't look it. Trust me, before I'm done with them more than half will be eliminated.

"Huh? More than half, really?" Sakura asked with a gulp.

"Ha, this is gunna be fun." Anko said. "Alright you maggots have had it easy so far but things are gunna be different starting first thing in the morning. I'll let your squad leaders know where you're to meet me. Dismissed."

* * *

**So that was the first phase of the exam. Next is the forest of death.**

**Be honest, does this story suck. I mean i like writing it but i don't know if you guys like reading it**


	16. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its plot/characters. I only own my OCs and my plot and any changes made to the plot of the anime.**

* * *

The next morning all the candidates who'd passed the first part of the exam met outside of a fenced off area with huge trees. On the fence gate was a sign that said 'restricted area' as well as many chains and locks keeping it closed. There was even a paper seal.

"Wow nice place, what is it?" Naruto asked.

"This is the location for the second phase of the exam." Anko said. "It's the 44th battle training zone. But we call it… the forest of death."

"Forest of…death?" Naruto asked. There was a shuffling sound and Naruto looked over to see Konohamaru's fake rock box. "Hm?" Naruto's eyebrow twitched and he started walking and the box followed. He stopped then started running around like the first time. Kaminari sighed. Naruto stopped and pointed at the box. "That's the worst disguise of all time there no such things as square rocks, it's completely obvious."

"You saw through my camouflage _again_! You're slick boss, just what I'd expect from my greatest rival." The box exploded and the three kids were coughing from the smoke once again. "I think we used a little too much gunpowder you guys." The three introduced themselves again with their poses.

"Yeah I knew it was you guys the whole time." Naruto said with his arms behind his head. "What do you losers want? I'm getting ready to take the second phase of the chunin exam and you're interrupting me. I don't have any time to be playing around with you guys now."

"We didn't come to play around, boss, we're on official business." Konohamaru said.

"Yeah that's right." Moegi said. "We came here for an exclusive interview."

"Uh-huh, Uh-huh." Udon nodded.

"An interview huh?" Naruto asked.

"We're here on assignment to write an article for the academy's newspaper. It's a big time feature ninja story all about the chunin selection examination." Konohamaru said.

"So that's why we want to do an exclusive interview with you." Moegi said "Please tell us you're going to do it."

"It would mean a lot." Udon said.

"Yeah, but right now?" Naruto asked. "Urg…"

"Hey, you over there!" Anko called as she walked over. "What are you doing? You're holding up the exams.

"Uh sorry but Konohamaru was telling me something about an interview for the academy newspaper." Anko gasped and smiled as she scratched the back of her head.

"OH yeah I forgot all about it. Lord Hokage had mentioned something about them interviewing me."

"Uh, interviewing you?"

"Alright we're talking a ten minute break. For those that are scheduled to be interviewed please be courteous and respectful to the reporters from the academy newspaper."

"I thought I was the only one being interviewed." Naruto said.

"No boss, but you are the most important." Konohamaru said taking out a notebook and a pencil.

"Oh well in that case, I'll give you an interview that'll make it clear to your readers why I'm the greatest ninja ever." Naruto said. They went over to a tree and started interviewing him. Kaminari tuned it out and looked around at everyone else. Most people were talking quietly amongst their squad but others were simply sitting around silently. Kaminari looked over at Gaara and his team. Kankurō noticed her looking and gave her a what-are-you-looking-at-punk look. She rolled her eyes and looked away towards the other rookie genin. Chouji was still eating, Shikamaru looked extremely bored and Ino was looking at Sasuke. Kiba was petting Akamaru, Shino was looking at the forest of death and Hinata was looking at Naruto. Kaminari frowned slightly.

* * *

Kaminari walked over to Sasuke and Sakura who were a few meters from the kids and Naruto.

"The whole article can't be about you, boss!"

"Oh I guess you're right Konohamaru. I suppose I could tell you a few stories about how Sasuke screwed up." Naruto said.

"I've already heard that story, boss! Can't you talk about anyone but you?"

"I'm sure Naruto is just talking about himself over there to those kids." Sakura said. "I'll bet he never even mentions us.

"Hm. That would be just like him." Sasuke said. They noticed Kaminari and looked at her.

"Hey Kaminari." Sakura said with a forced smile. Kaminari sighed.

"I get it; I'm not welcome around you. I was just coming to say hi." Kaminari said with a shrug before turning around.

"Uh-" Sakura frowned. "Kam-" Suddenly the kids asked to interview Sakura. "Um-" She looked over at Kaminari who was walking away.

* * *

Kaminari walked up to the twins who were sitting on the ground.

"Hey Kami-Chan."

"Sup Nari-Chan." Kaminari sat down silently. She sat hugging her knees to her chest. "You alright Nari-Chan?" She nodded. She looked around to see who was around them.

"I think I should tell you guys something… in case something happens in the forest." She said quietly. The two looked at her.

"Huh?"

"Kiyoshi-Sensei wanted me to tell you at some point. You two have a right to know. I was going to tell you after the exam so that this wouldn't affect your ability to work with me…"

"What's wrong Kami-Chan?"

"I have to tell you about… Inazuma." The two blinked.

* * *

"So you have an alternate personality?" Akira asked.

"That likes to kill people?" Akio asked. Kaminari sighed.

"She's not an alternate personality. She's someone else. She's not me she's just… attached to me."

"Show us." Akira said.

"I can't. If I did that she'd have to complete this part of the exam with you guys, I'm not saying she'll hurt you but it's unfair."

"Can't you just come back?" Akio asked.

"It's not that simple. The last time she came out I was out for several days."

"How will we know when she's there instead of you?" Akira asked.

"It's not like she would hide it but there's also the fact that she has red eyes instead of blue."

"Wow." The two said. "That sounds pretty awesome!" Kaminari blinked.

"You two are okay with this?"

"Sure." They said.

"I'm glad you told us, Kami-Chan."

"Yeah, if you kept this I don't think we would've trusted you as much."

"And it shows you trust us!" The two grinned.

"I wish other people we as accepting as you guys." Kaminari said looking down.

"Did Blondie do something?" The two asked as they furrowed their brows .

"No, not him; Sakura's scared of me."

"So what?" Akira said.

"Yeah, you don't need her to accept you." Akio said.

"Thanks guys." Kaminari said with a small smile.

* * *

The trio returned to the entrance of the forest of death with everyone else.

"This whole place just creeps me out." Sakura said.

"It should, they call it the forest of death, and soon enough you're gunna find out why." Anko said. Naruto made a face and mocked Anko.

"They call it the forest of death, and soon enough you're gunna find out why." He said in a high voice. "Do your worst you're not gunna scare me away! I can handle anything!"

"So, looks like we've got ourselves a tough guy."Anko said closing her eyes in a smile. She suddenly threw a kunai at him. It gave him a cut on his cheek as it sailed past his ear. She appeared behind him "You tough enough to handle this? You're not afraid are you?" She put her hand on his face. "Tough guys like you usually leave their blood all over this forest." She took out another kunai as a ninja with an extremely long tongue held out the kunai she'd thrown before with said tongue.

"I was just returning your knife."

"Why thank you grass ninja." Anko said. "You know, I really only recommend you stand his close behind me if you wish to reach a premature end." Anko took the kunai back and the ninja's tongue slithered back into their mouth.

"My pardon. With the sight of blood and your blade slicing through my hair, I'm afraid that I just became a little excited. I meant you no harm."

"Likewise." Anko said as the extremely creepy ninja walked away. Naruto looked around Anko, holding a hand to his cheek, and started sticking his tongue out to see if he could do it too. "Seems like everyone here today is quick tempered. There must be something in the air. This is gunna be fun." She walked to the gate. "Now before we begin this test I've something to hand out to you all." She turned around and took something from inside her jacket. "It's just a standard consent form." She said holding up a stack of papers. "Before the test all of you are going to have to read over this form and then sign it."

"What for?" Naruto asked.

"Some of you may not come back from this test and I have to get your consent to that risk. Otherwise it would be my responsibility." She laughed. Everyone muttered amongst themselves. "Now, I'll explain what you'll be doing on this test. Here pass these out." She held out the papers to Naruto who took one and passed the stack to the guy next to him. "The first thing you need to know is that this test will test every one of your survival skills." Anko held open a scroll with a map. "First I'll give you all a description of the terrain on the practice field. The 44th battle training zone has 44 locked entrance gates, there are rivers and a forest inside. In the center is a locked tower located 10 kilometers from each gate. It's in this confined area that you'll undergo the survival test." She rerolled the scroll. "The test consists of…" She put the scroll away in her jacket. "An anything goes battle to get your hands on these scrolls." She held up a white scroll and a black scroll.

"Both of them." Sasuke asked.

"Yes." She showed the symbols on each. "You'll be fighting to get both a heavens scroll and an earth scroll. All together 26 teams will be taking part in this test. So half of those teams will be going after the heavens scroll and the other half will be trying to get the earth scroll. I'll hand over one kind of scroll to each team and that's what you'll be vying for."

"Okay, so how do we pass the test?" Sasuke asked.

"Your entire squad must bring both a heaven and earth scroll to the tower."

"That means at the very best half of us will fail." Sakura said. "More if not every team is able to get both the scrolls."

"No one ever said it would be easy." Anko said. "Oh and one more thing, the test has a time limit. You must finish it within five days.

"Five days out there?!" Ino asked.

"What are we supposed to do for food?!" Chouji asked.

"Just look around." Anko said. "The forest is full of things to eat, there's plenty to feed all of you."

"Yeah but," Kabuto glanced at Chouji. "That's not all the forest has plenty of; there are man-eating beasts and poisonous plants in there."

"Oh maaan." Chouji whined.

"Quiet down," Ino said. "This is why they call it survival you know."

"That means with these circumstances there's no way half the teams will pass the test." Neji said.

"With the days getting longer, the nights are getting shorter so we will have less time to sleep and less time to recover." Lee said before smiling. "It is a challenge indeed!"

"Completely surrounded by enemies there won't be time to rest we'll have to keep a constant watch." Sasuke said.

"Right." Anko said. "This test also measures endurance behind enemy lines. This is designed to be a grueling test and I'm sure some of you won't be up to the challenge."

"So um," Shikamaru raised his hand. "Let's say mid-exam can we quit?"

"Of course not. In the middle of a battle you can't say 'sorry I quit'." She smiled. "Well I guess you could but it's probably gunna get ya killed."

"Oh just _great._" Shikamaru said. "This is gunna be a drag."

"There are also some ways you can get disqualified. The first is simple." Anko held up a finger. "If all three members of a team can't make it to the tower with both scrolls after five days. Number two:" She held up a second finger. "If a team loses a member or if a member becomes incapacitated and cannot continue. But most important, none of you absolutely none of you may look at the contests of the scrolls until you've reached the tower."

"W-What if it just happens to flap open and you read it?" Naruto asked.

"Let me put it to you this way young man: You. Don't. Want. To. Know." Naruto made a face and whined. "There will be times when a ninja will be asked to carry secret documents the scroll rule is to test your integrity. Okay we're done. Each team take your contest forms and exchange them over there," Anko pointed to a small booth with three ninja. "For your scrolls. After that, each team pick a gate and you'll be let inside." Anko sighed. "Oh and I have one more word of advice: Just don't die!"

* * *

Everyone separated to read and sign the forms. The ninjas by the booth pulled a curtain closed around it. That way each team doesn't know which team has which scroll or who's carrying it.

"Alright everyone, we're gunna start handing out scrolls!" One of the ninja at the booth called before going behind the curtain. Everyone stood and team by team went in.

Kaminari and the twins went in and handed over their forms. One of the ninja handed them an earth scroll. The twins nodded to Kaminari who nodded back and hid the scroll on herself before they left the booth.

"Listen up, all the teams have received their scrolls so everybody go to your gate and wait there!" Anko called. "When the gates open the test is on!"

Kaminari and the twins stood outside gate nine. The ninja unlocked the gate.

"Alright heads up you maggots the second part of the test has begun!" Anko shouted. The gates opened and the three ran in.

"If we need her you'll let Ina-Chan help." Akio called

"Right Kami-Chan?" Kaminari frowned.

"Y-Yeah." The three stopped on a large tree branch.

"Okay what's the plan?" Akio said quietly. Akira opened his mouth but they suddenly heard screaming. "Already?" Akio gulped.

"Kami-Chan." Akira said. She looked at him. "Inazuma can be really useful in this place. You don't have to let her out but let her help anyway she can alright?" Kaminari nodded. "Alright. So first things first we have to find someone with the other scroll."

"I think we should just start heading to the tower." Akio said. "We're bound to run into someone. Plus the closer we are to the tower when we get the scroll the closer to passing we are." Akira and Kaminari nodded.

"Alright, let's go." Akira said. The three started jumping through the trees.

* * *

The trio jumped through the trees without interruption for about a half an hour. Kaminari, who was a bit ahead of the twins suddenly stopped. The twins stopped next to her. They didn't say a word and looked around. Kaminari pointed ahead to the next branch they would've landed on. There was a thin wire stretched across. The three exchanged looks. Suddenly Akio let out a yelp of surprise and Akira looked shocked at something in front of Kaminari. She quickly looked forward to see about a dozen kunai floating in front of her having been stopped by Inazuma. Kaminari mentally thanked the other girl and stood up. Inazuma made the weapons float to her and the twins. The twins blinked but took some of the weapons.

"Come on out!" Akira called. Three male ninja jumped out and landed on three different branches.

"So you saw our trap." One said. They were leaf ninja and looked to be only a few years older than the trio.

"Too bad that won't help you." Kaminari rolled her eyes.

"Stop trying to act tough." She said.

"Huh? What'd you say kid?"

"I could kill you without you even knowing right now." The three scoffed.

"Yeah right, you're just rookies. Hand over your scroll and we won't have to hurt you."

"Hurt me? I won't get a scratch on me. You on the other hand…" Kaminari smirked then sighed with a chuckle. "You three call yourselves ninja."

"Err! Shut up girl!" One shouted.

"A real ninja is observant." Kaminari said. "You've missed a piece of crucial information."

"You can't lecture us kid! We're older than you."

"But not better." Kaminari said. "In the few years you've had to be more advanced than us… well it seems you've been slacking off." Kaminari smiled.

"What are you trying to say?!"

"That ninja's, as I said before, are observant. Where'd the other six kunai go?" She held up her two while the twins did the same. The three ninja's eyes widened as they felt a blade pressed against their necks as well as a second poking the back of their necks. They froze.

"How did-?"

"Now, hand over your scroll and I won't kill you." Akio said with a smirk. The ninja gulped and one slowly reached into their weapons pouch to pull out their heaven scroll. "Toss it over." The ninja tossed it and an invisible force caught it before bringing it over to Akira who took it and put it away. "Thank you, you boys have been really helpful." Kaminari said with a smile. Suddenly one of the ninja let out a cry of pain and pain and fell from his branch.

"You said if we gave you the scroll you wouldn't kill us!" The one who had the scroll shouted.

"Oops… Guess my hand slipped." The twins looked at Kaminari and saw her eyes were still blue. "Now get out of here." The kunai dropped and the two jumped down to get to their teammate. "Let's go." The trio took off.

"What the hell was that?!" Akira asked.

"I thought only Inazuma killed people!" Akio shouted.

"That wasn't me!" Kaminari shouted. "I wasn't even holding the kunai, she did that on her own I just went along with it! I told her not to kill anyone!"

"Alright, calm down Kami-Chan."

"Yeah, we get it, it's okay."

"It's _not_ okay… I told her…I told you." Kaminari whispered before she let out an angry sound and the three continued jumping towards the tower.

* * *

The trio arrived at the tower and went to one of the doors. The three looked at each other and nodded before Kaminari opened the doors breaking the small paper seal on them. They walked in and saw a large sign on the wall.

"There's no one here." Akio said looking around. Akira looked up at the large sign on the wall.

"If qualities of heaven are your desire, acquire wisdom to take your mind higher. If earthy qualities are what you lack, train your body and prepare to attack. When heaven and earth are opened together the perilous path will become righteous forever. This secret _something_ is the secret way that guides us from this place today." He read.

"What's that mean?" Akio asked. "Secret what?"

"The word is missing." Akira said.

"It's talking about the scrolls." Kaminari said. "We're supposed to open them both together." She took out her earth scroll while Akira took out his heaven's scroll. "Here." She handed it to Akio. The two boys took held the scrolls and pinched the paper.

"Ready?" Akio asked. Akira nodded. The two opened the scrolls in sync.

"Huh?" The three blinked at the papers.

"The heck is that supposed to be?" Akio asked.

"It looks like a bad doddle." Akira said. Suddenly the paper rose and smoke came out.

"It's a summoning jutsu; throw the scrolls away from us!" Kaminari said. The two boys threw the scrolls. They landed and there was a small explosion. The smoked started to clear to show a silhouette of a man.

"huh?!" The twins looked utterly confused.

"Why are _you_ here?" Kaminari asked. Standing on the scrolls was one of the chunin sentinels from the first part of the exam the one with the black spike hair and a bandage going across his nose.

"Looks like this test was easy on you three."

"Why are you here?" Akio asked.

"At the end of the second exam we chunin are supposed to welcome the test takers back. So congrats… you passed the second exam. And in…" He took out a pocket watch and whistled. "only two hours. Either you three got lucky or you're definitely chunin material." He smirked at them.

"So you're just here to say good job." Akira said with an eyebrow raised.

"No. I'm also supposed to talk about that." He pointed behind him at the sign. "They're instructions the lord Hokage recorded as principles that Chunin should follow. Heaven stands for your mind and Earth stand for your body. Just read it: 'If qualities of heaven are your desire, acquire wisdom to take your mind higher.'" Get it?" Kaminari nodded. The twins blinked. The chunin sighed. "It's telling you to train. If you're not that smart, study up. If you're not that strong, train your body. 'When heaven and earth are opened together the perilous path will become righteous forever.' If your mind and your body are working together then even a very dangerous mission can be easy."

"What about the blank part?" Akira asked.

"You're supposed to fill it in. See the symbol on the scroll, it's the character for person, referring to you. These five days… or one in your case, was to test your abilities as chunin and to see if you were any good, seeing as how you got here in two hours. You're the second ones here."

"Who got here before us?" Akira asked.

"A group of Sand village ninja. Got here a half hour before you. Both of you beat the record by about 3-4 hours. I'm impressed."

"So what now?" Akio asked.

"Now, you wait for the remaining time."

"Are you telling us we have to stay here for five days?" Akira asked raising his eyebrows.

"I know you're not deaf kid." The chunin said rolling his eyes. "There's rooms for each team, a kitchen, dining hall and bathrooms. You'll survive." He pointed to some doors. "Through there. You're in room number two."

"What room is the other team in?" Akio asked.

"One." The chunin said before transporting away.

"Great." Akira said before sighing. "Let's go."

* * *

**Be honest, does this story suck. I mean I like writing it but I don't know if you guys like reading it  
**


	17. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its plot/characters. I only own my OCs and my plot and any changes made to the plot of the anime.**

**GO BACK AND READ 14 AND 15 somehow, and no one noticed this, I skipped the first exam. But i fixed it now. Sorry.**

**I'm going to try and have another chapter or two about the five days spent at the tower. It'll be some not so romantic Gaara/Kaminari time ^_^ also I'm sorry to those of you who don't want Gaara/Kaminari. It's just the three (those two and Naruto) are so similar and can relate to each other.**

**I never said I was giving up the story, don't worry. O-O**

**Thank you Safiermere, Loane Lunoa and UltimateReader123 for reviewing. And thank you to all followers.**

* * *

Kaminari and the twins walked through the tower until they reached a section with numbered rooms.

"They're only five rooms, guys." Akio said.

"They don't expect many teams." Kaminari said. They walked to the second door and Akira started to unlock the door as the first one opened.

"You're kidding." The three looked over to see Tamari and Kankurō coming out of the first room. Kankurō crossed his arms as Tamari closed the door. "You punks got here fast."

"Half an hour after you guys." Akio said with a smug smirk.

"What do you want? A prize?" Kankurō mocked. He looked them over. "You guys don't have a scratch on you." He said narrowing his eyes.

"Thanks to Kami-Chan."

"God, really?" Tamari asked.

"They were talking about me." Kaminari said looking at the two. Tamari raised an eyebrow.

"They call you god? The hell is wrong with you people?"

"It's my name." Kaminari said in a bored tone. "Kaminari."

"What's your names?" Akira asked.

"That's right, we never met you punks." Kankurō said putting his hands down on the twin's heads roughly. They swatted him away.

"I'm Akira."

"Akio."

"Kankurō."

"Tamari."

"Great now that we all know each other can we-" Kankurō started walking away but stopped talking as he was suddenly tripped. "Gah!" He looked up at the others. "Alright, who did that?!" The twins tried to hide their smirks. Kankurō got up. "Alright which one of you was it?!" He loomed over them. They smirked up at him.

"If you touch them I'll break your hand." Kaminari said.

"You think you're tough?" Kankurō asked walking over to her. The twins snickered. "Huh, kid?" Kaminari smirked up at him. Kankurō reached out to touch her and his arm froze. "What the-" Suddenly his arm started to twist.

"Did I say hand?" Kaminari asked. Kankurō glared as his arm was twisted painfully but not so much as to break it.

"Hey stop it." Tamari said. "We're not in the second exam anymore you can't do that."

"I'm not." Kaminari said looking back at her. Kankurō's arm was released and he hissed in pain as he moved it.

"You do that again kid and I'll-"

"You'll what?" Kaminari turned to look at him. "You can't touch me." She said with a smirk. Kankurō glared. "Looks like we're gunna be neighbors for the next five days. Don't try anything or I'll be forced to hurt you." She said before opening the room door and going inside. The twins gave one last look to the two before going inside.

"Well that went well." Akira said before sitting on one of three beds in the room. In the back was another door that led to a bathroom.

"So…" Akio sat on the middle bed. "What now?" Kaminari shrugged. She walked over to a single dresser in the room and pulled open the top drawer. Inside was a bunch of T-shirts and shorts as well as a few pairs of pants and some boxers. She closed it and opened the bottom drawer there were a few bandages and medical supplies. Upon opening the third drawer Kaminari's face went pink.

"Alright no one but me opens the bottom drawer." She said.

"Why not?" Akira asked.

"They supplied us with clothes. There's a washing machine in the bathroom where our clothes can be washed while we wear these clothes. The bottom drawer is meant for girls." The two boys went pink.

"Oh." They said then looked away.

"Well… I'm hungry." Akira said standing up. "Why don't we check out the kitchen?" Akio stood up.

"I think I'm gunna take a shower, you guys go ahead." Kaminari said.

"Alright." They said before leaving.

* * *

Kaminari put her clothes in the small washer after changing into a black t-shirt and shorts. She pulled her shoes back on and left the room just as the first door closed.

"Oh, hey Gaara." Kaminari said. He looked at her but didn't say anything as he started walking down the hallway. She closed her door and caught up with him. He looked at her without turning his head. She did the same. They walked down to the kitchen in silence. They walked in to see the twins and Tamari and Kankurō. Akio and Kankurō were glaring at each other while Akira was talking with Tamari. When the two walked in they all look over. Kaminari walked over and looked in the fridge.

"I _really_ hope it takes Chouji a while to get here." Kaminari muttered.

"Who?" Kankurō asked.

"Chouji, the boy who's always eating." Akio explained. Kankurō nodded. Kaminari turned around.

"So, who wants grilled cheese?" She asked with a smile. Gaara looked at Tamari and Kankurō and they got up and walked over.

"Maybe later." Tamari said. The three left the room.

"That was weird." Akio said.

"Yeah." Akira said. "But uh, yeah I want some."

"Me too."

"Kay."

"Didn't know you could cook." Akira said as Kaminari started to get everything.

"Well after this you'll never forget." Kaminari said with a smile.

* * *

Later that night Kaminari had changed back into her normal clothes and the twins were conked out in their room. Kaminari walked through the halls until she heard voices. She walked in and saw Kiba, Hinata and Shino.

"Well, I guess he must have been sayin that that bigger ninja was in trouble because that little pipsqueak was gunna kill'em."

"Just like I thought there' no other place to go!" Kankurō said.

"We've already waited half a day how much longer are they gunna make us wait?" Tamari asked as the three walked into view.

"Hm?" Kankurō and Tamari looked over at the three. Gaara glanced over as they passed by. Kaminari walked past them to the three. Gaara watched her pass by him.

"Hey guys." Kaminari greeted the three. "Aw what's wrong with Akamaru?" She asked walking over. The puppy whimpered. "Poor guy." She said petting his head slightly.

"When did you get here?" Kiba asked.

"Two hours after the exam started." The Hinata and Kiba looked shocked. Shino's expression was hard to read.

"Really?" Hinata asked. Kaminari nodded.

"Hey I made some food earlier if you want some." Kaminari closed her eyes in a smile.

* * *

While lying awake in bed Kaminari heard one of the doors open and close. She got up and peeked out her door to see Gaara, walking down the hall. She tilted her head and went back inside to get her shoes. She slipped them on before quietly leaving the room. She silently made her way down to the kitchen and looked in to see Gaara looking in the fridge. He stopped and turned his head to the door. Kaminari moved into view and smiled with her eyes closed.

"I did make food for everyone earlier. All you had to do was ask." She smiled slightly. He looked at her before looking back in the fridge. "I could make you something if you'd like." She walked in. She heard shifting and looked down to see sand an inch away from her skin of her ankles. It was swirling around as it tried to get past Inazuma. Kaminari chuckled slightly. Gaara glared down at her feet. "Sorry, no touchy." She said with a smirk raising her head. He looked up at her face the glare still present. "Sit down, I'll make you something." She said walking to the fridge. He moved away from her then sat down silently after putting his gourd on the ground next to him. "So anything in particular you want?" Kaminari asked looking at him. He looked at her blankly. "Alrighty then, I'll just make something random." She said turning back.

* * *

A few minutes later Kaminari placed a plate with a grilled cheese sandwich in front Gaara. He looked down at it.

"Try it, it's good." Kaminari said with a smile. He looked at her with a slight glare and she continued to smile. She turned around and started to clean up. "If you have anything you want for breakfast I can make it in the morning. I like to cook." She giggled slightly.

"…Why?" Gaara asked quietly.

"It relaxes me I guess." She said with a shrug.

"No… Why are you... being… nice … to me?" Kaminari turned around slightly and saw Gaara had turned to look at her. Kaminari smiled and chuckled slightly.

"Déjà vu." She muttered. Gaara tilted his head slightly. "Uh I had a similar conversation with Naruto once. I was asking him why he always tried to talk to me when I never did. People ignored me or glared at me for no reason so I rarely spoke to anyone." She scratched the back of her head.

"Why are you telling me this?" Gaara asked. Kaminari blinked and shrugged.

"Don't be offended but you remind me of myself somewhat." Gaara glared.

"You're not a killer." Gaara said in an almost growl. Kaminari chuckled and had to stop herself from laughing. This caused Gaara to glare harder.

"Oh now you really remind me of myself." She muttered shaking her head with a sigh. Gaara tilted his head again. "Ever slaughter your whole village?" Gaara blinked.

"I killed my mother." He said.

"Me too." Kaminari said with a closed eyed smile. "And my father."

"I wish." Gaara said. Kaminari giggled.

"Sorry, that's not really something I should laugh about." Gaara didn't say anything. "So what do you want for breakfast?"

"I don't care." He said turning back to his sandwich.

"Okay, I'm gunna make pancakes, if you don't like them I'll just make you something else." He didn't say anything and she went back to cleaning up. After a few minutes Gaara stood and put the now empty plate on the counter next to the sink. He looked at her. "You're welcome." She said with a small smile. "Goodnight." Gaara left without saying a word.

* * *

**So yeah grilled cheese exsists in my story verse whether or not it does in Naruto. **

**So since Kaminari is 12 and Gaara is 13(and still a sociopath) there won't be _romance_ romance between them. They have to become friends first and all that cause i'm not making Gaara OOC. **

**Same with Naruto, to be honest I think actual _romance_ will start when I start Shippudden but there will still be cute interactions. (Cause Kaminari doesn't even have boobs yet, she and Sakura are both flat-chested.) Also cause being 17 writing about two 12-year-olds or a 12 and 13-year-old having romance is a bit weird unless it's cute things. So i thought i would tell everyone that now.  
**

**Also do you think I should have a different story for the Shippudden part of the story? Or should I just have this be like 50 plus chapters? (Obviously since that's far away you don't actually have to answer right now I'm just putting it out there.)**


	18. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its plot/characters. I only own my OCs and my plot and any changes made to the plot of the anime.**

* * *

Kaminari smiled as she heard voices coming towards the kitchen. Kiba, Akira, Akio, Hinata and Shino entered. Kiba sniffed the air.

"You two," he said to the twins. "have the best teammate ever." He walked over to where Kaminari had put out a large plate full of pancakes. He took a long sniff and grinned before grabbing one and biting into it. "Kami, babe, you are a cooking goddess!" He said with a laugh. Akamaru barked in agreement. Kaminari rolled her eyes.

"Don't call her that." The twins said with frowns.

"I'm already giving you food, Kiba; you don't have to be nice." Kaminari said holding out a plate of pancakes to him. He grinned and took it before sitting down at the table. Kaminari gave everyone pancakes.

"Th-thank you Kaminari-Chan." Hinata said shyly. Kaminari smiled.

"You can just call me Kaminari." Hinata nodded with a small smile. Once everyone was sitting and eating, except Kaminari, the three sand ninja came into the room. Everyone looked at them and they looked back. "You guys hungry?" Kaminari asked with a smile.

"How do we know you didn't poison it?" Kankurō asked narrowing his eyes at her.

"The second test is over; we're not allowed to kill anyone. Besides I wouldn't use poison." Kaminari said nonchalantly while holding out two plates to the older ninja. They took the plates and silently sat down with the others. "Do you want some pancakes Gaara?" He looked over at the others eating then looked at her. He shook his head once. "Okay, what would you like?"

"What you made… before." He said quietly. Kaminari grinned and nodded.

"Alright."

* * *

After a few minutes Kaminari held out a plate with a grilled cheese sandwich to Gaara. He took it silently and left the room.

"Aren't you going to eat, Nari-Chan?" Akio asked. Kaminari shook her head.

"I already ate." She said as she started to clean up.

"Thanks for the food Nari-Chan." Kiba said bringing over his plate. Akio glared slightly at him for the use of his nickname for her.

"Yes, thank you." Shino said as he brought his over.

"Thank you, Kaminari." Hinata added her plate to the others. "Do you want some help with the dishes?" She asked with a small smile. Kaminari smiled back.

"That's okay, thanks for the offer though." Hinata nodded.

"Come on." Kiba said and the three left the room.

"So… Tamari." Akira said. "Uh… have a nice sleep?"

"Uh yeah." Tamari raised an eyebrow.

"That's good." Akira smiled at her. Kankurō glared at him and kicked his leg. Akira looked at him. Kankurō leaned down to hiss in his ear.

"Dude, don't try to hit on my sister. One, you suck at it and two, she's too old for you."

"Sister?" Akira asked. He looked between the two.

"I don't see it." Akio said.

"You two are related?" Kaminari asked.

"Yeah. Tamari's my older sister and… Gaara's our younger brother."

"Poor kitty's in the middle." Kaminari said before patting his head. Kankurō's eye twitched and he turned around in his chair.

"What did you call me?!"

"Kitty." She said with a smile. She reached over and pulled on the two pointed parts of his hood. "See? You have kitty ears." Kankurō swatted her hands away.

"Get off, brat!" He growled making her giggle. Tamari chuckled. Kankurō glared at her.

"I like her." Tamari said. "She annoys you." Kaminari patted Kankurō's head once more, making him glare at her, then went back to cleaning. Kankurō grumbled to himself as Tamari got up with her plate. She put it in the sink and started to put the others away.

"I'll do that." Kaminari said.

"It's no problem." Tamari said. The twins brought their plates over.

"We'll be in the room Kami-Chan." Akira said. "Bye Tama-Chan." Kankurō's eye twitched and he glared at the older twin as the two left. Kankurō got up with his plate and leaned against the counter.

"So _Kami-Chan, _how'd your team get the other scroll_ and_ get here only a half hour after us?" He asked.

"Everyone has their secrets Kitty-Kun."

"Well- Would you stop calling me that?!" Tamari smirked in amusement and rolled her eyes. Kaminari smiled. "How'd you do it? There's not a scratch on you. The other day I saw you in the rain but you were completely dry." Just then Gaara walked into the room. "How'd you do that?"

"I told you, we all have our secrets, Kitty." Kankurō glared.

"Quit callin me that." He growled. Kaminari stuck her tongue out at him. Gaara walked over and Kankurō moved out of the way. Gaara put the plate on the counter and looked at his older siblings before leaving the room.

"Sorry Kaminari." Tamari said. "We'll see you later." Tamari started to leave.

"You gunna make lunch?" Kankurō asked.

"Come on." Tamari said giving him a glare.

"I was just askin'." Kankurō said rolled his eyes as he left the room with her. Kaminari chuckled.

* * *

Kaminari returned to the room where Akio was doing push-ups and Akira was doing sit-ups.

"You two are busy I see." Kaminari said walking past them to sit on her bed.

"There's nothing else to do here." Akio said.

"All we can do is train or wander around the tower." Akira said sitting up.

"Well we could hang out with the others." Kaminari said.

"Sand sibs, no thank you." Akio said.

"And Team Eight?" Kaminari said.

"Kiba annoys me." Akira said.

"Shino creeps me out." Akio said.

"And Hinata?"

"She's cute." They said with shrugs. Kaminari rolled her eyes.

"We'll I'm gunna go see what they're up to. Maybe another team made it here."

* * *

Kaminari walked through the tower and just so happened to hear talking by the entrance. She peeked around the corner to see Rock Lee and his team.

"Hey!" She called with a smile. The three looked over. Tenten was supporting Lee. Kaminari came over to them. "What happened?"

"Uh… you're…?" Tenten asked looking at her.

"Huh?" Kaminari blinked. "Oh I guess we haven't met officially. I'm Kaminari."

"I am Rock Lee." Lee said with a smile. "This is Tenten and-"

"Neji Hyuga." He said.

"Are you related to Hinata?" Kaminari asked tilting her head with a small smile. Neji glared slightly. "I'm taking that as a yes."

"When did you get here?" Tenten asked.

"Yesterday. Come on I'll show you the rooms."

"Yesterday?" Tenten asked as the four started walking.

"Mhm. About two hours after the exams started."

"You must have been the first ones here."

"Nope, second. Gaara and his team got here before us and Kiba and his got here last night."

"You must be very skilled." Lee said. "You don't look injured at all."

"I wish I could say the same for you." Kaminari said with a frown. "What happened out there?"

"Sound ninja." Neji said.

"Sakura and her team were in trouble." Lee said.

"Is Naruto okay?" Kaminari asked quickly.

"He and the others are okay." Lee said with a reassuring smile.

"That's a relief." Kaminari said with a small sigh.

"Really? You're not a Sasuke fan girl?" Tenten asked with a smirk.

"Ha, no thank you." Kaminari said with a slight chuckle.

Kaminari took the three to the fourth room.

"There should be some medical supplies in there. If you need any extra my team hasn't used any of ours."

"I'll be fine." Lee said with a smile. "Thank you." He bowed his head slightly. "You are very kind."

"No problem." Kaminari smiled with a light blush.

"You're a lot nicer than I thought you'd be." Tenten said. "Uh- I didn't mean-"

"It's okay." Kaminari said. "A lot of people don't like me. I'm used to it." Kaminari said with a smile. Lee looked like he had tears in his eyes as he looked sympathetic for her.

"I didn't say I didn't like you." Tenten said.

"It's okay. I'll leave you guys alone now." Kaminari said.

"No, wait-" Lee started to say but Kaminari quickly left.

* * *

Kaminari walked through the tower and almost ran into Gaara when turning a corner.

"Whoa." Kaminari put a hand on her chest. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Gaara simply looked at her then walked around her. "Uh-…" Gaara stopped and turned his head slightly. "Want do you want for lunch?" Gaara turned his head more and made eye contact. "Grilled cheese again?" Gaara turned his head forward and walked away. Kaminari smiled.

* * *

Kaminari was in the kitchen when she heard someone come in. She looked behind her to see Gaara enter.

"It's on the table." She said before looking forward with a smile. She heard him pick up the plate then leave.

"_Oh Kami-Chan_!" Akira called in sing song as he walked into the kitchen. Akio walked in behind him.

"We thought we smelt grilled cheese." Akio said. They looked around.

"Where is it?" They asked in unison looking around confused. Kaminari chuckled.

"I didn't make it for you guys." She said.

"Awww." They whined.

"But they're so good!"

"You're cooking is the best!"

"If you guys want some all you have to do is ask." Kaminari said trying to hide a smile.

"Please Kami/Nari-Chan?" The two said with smiles. Kaminari chuckled and nodded.

"Sit down." She said rolling her eyes.

* * *

After the boys and Kaminari ate they went into an empty room to train. They each took turns sparring with only Taijutsu, then just Ninjutsu, then both. After, they trained separately before going back to the room. Kaminari took her shower first, the twins insisted, then Akira then Akio. Akira and Kaminari were lying on their beds when someone started knocking on their door.

"Hey! Kaminari! Yo!" Kaminari got up and opened the door.

"What's up Kitty-Kun?" She asked and smirked when Kankurō glared.

"I'm hungry." He said.

"Yeah… so?"

"Make me something to eat." Kaminari crossed her arms and leaned on one leg.

"I'm not your servant. You can make your own food. Maybe Tamari can make you something." Kankurō's eyes widened.

"_Hell_ no, she tried cooking once and the kitchen blew up."

"Don't you think you're being a bit overdramatic?"

"No I'm serious. The kitchen _blew up_. She's not even allowed near the toaster anymore."

"That's a little harsh." Kaminari said. "Anyway, I'm not making you food." Kankurō frowned.

"Aw come on." Kankurō whined. Kaminari shook her head.

"Nope. I'm not going to be there after the exam to make you food so make it yourself."

"That's why I'm asking." He said. "I only have a few more days to enjoy it."

"Nice to know you only like me for my cooking." Kaminari said rolling her eyes but walking past him, closing the door behind her. Kankurō followed her as she started walking.

"So you'll make me something?"

"Only if you let me call you Kitty." Kaminari said with a smirk looking at him.

"Hell no, I'm not that hungry." He said.

"Okay then." Kaminari turned on her heel and started walking back to her room.

"No no no no no wait!" Kankurō ran in front of her. "…fine you can call me… Kitty. But not in public!" He added quickly.

"Well I'm not going to make a habit of being alone with you, but come on." She turned around again and Kankurō sighed in relief.

* * *

As the two neared the kitchen they heard noises. They looked at each other and frowned before looking into the kitchen. The two blinked their eyes wide and their jaws were hanging open. Shikamaru sighed and looked back at the two from his spot leaning against the table. Ino was sitting in a chair shaking her head. Kankurō looked in horror at the almost empty fridge and Chouji who was sitting on the floor eating something.

"Ahhh!" Kankurō suddenly yelled. "You ate almost all of the food!" He rushed to the fridge and looked inside.

"I'm hungry." Chouji said with his mouth full.

"_So am I_!" Kankurō shouted. He looked crestfallen and let his head drop.

"Don't worry kitty I'll make something out of what's left." Kaminari said pushing him out of the way. Kankurō's face went pink and he glared at her as Shikamaru and Ino snickered.

"Kitty?" Shikamaru asked.

"Mhm, he's got kitty ears." Kaminari said. Ino giggled.

"He does!" She laughed. Kankurō put his hands over the points of his hood and glared at everyone.

"Just bring it to my room." He said before leaving the kitchen.

"I'm not your servant, kitty!"

"Shut _up_!" Kankurō shouted his voice cracking slightly in embarrassment. The four laughed.

"So, when did you get here?" Ino asked.

"Two hours after the start." Kaminari said as she started to fix something for Kankurō.

"Two hours?!" The three looked at her in shock.

"My team wasn't the first. Gaara's got here a half hour before us. Kiba came after us then Rock Lee and his team then you guys."

"So we beat Sakura and her team?" Ino asked. Kaminari nodded. "Yes!" Ino pumped her fist. Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"You cook?" Chouji asked looking up at Kaminari from the floor. She nodded.

"Mhm, it relaxes me. Makes me feel like a normal girl." She said. "I'd make you guys something but there's not much left." She glanced at Chouji who chuckled with a sheepish smile. "There's one room left for you guys to stay in until the last few days are up. I'll show you when I bring this to Kankurō."

* * *

Kaminari led Team Ten to the fifth room then went down to the first and knocked on the door. Kankurō opened it and smirked.

"Thanks doll." He said taking the plate.

"Doll?" Kaminari raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." He patted her on the head making her frown.

"Kankurō." Tamari walked to the door. She looked from the plate to Kankurō and glared at him. "She's not your slave or girlfriend; she doesn't have to make you food whenever you want it." She scolded. "And she certainly doesn't have to bring it to you either." She crossed her arms.

"Well then, _Kami-Chan_, will you be my girlfriend for the next few days?" Kankurō asked with a smirk and a wink. Kaminari rolled her eyes and Tamari hit Kankurō upside the head.

"Even if you were serious, no." Kaminari said shaking her head. Kankurō put a hand to his chest.

"Oh, you wound me." He said dramatically.

"Tamari, Kankurō." Gaara said from inside the room. The two froze and swallowed.

"We'll see you later." Tamari said flashing a smile before closing the door. Kaminari blinked but shrugged it off and returned to room two.

* * *

**So I don't have any more ideas for the tower so I'm moving on to the next part of the exams. I will write Akio and Akira's fights as well as Kaminari's  
**


	19. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its plot/characters. I only own my OCs and my plot and any changes made to the plot of the anime.**

**So I skipped a day. It's now the last day of the 2****nd**** phase of the chunin exams. **

**Uploading from school. (I'm never gunna get used to this)**

* * *

Kaminari woke to someone knocking at the door. The twins each groaned and pulled the covers over their heads. Kaminari got up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and opened the door.

"Whoa, major bed head there doll." Kaminari looked up at Kankurō. She used her fingers to brush her hair slightly.

"Chouji probably ate all the food I can't make you anything." She said.

"I wasn't coming to ask you that." He said rolling his eyes. "Today's the last day of the exam, just thought you'd like to know." He said with an amused smirk. Suddenly the twins shot up out of bed and started running around the room to get dressed. Kankurō started laughing and Kaminari sighed. "Oh also, those sound ninja finished late last night and two more teams arrived as well."

"Thanks." Kaminari said with a small smile.

"No prob, doll." Kankurō said with a smirk. He patted her head once.

"See ya later, _kitty_." He rolled his eyes and Kaminari closed the door.

* * *

The eight teams stood in lines in a room of the tower. Jounin and chunin stood around and the Hokage was in front of the genin teams. Behind him were more jounin and large stone hands making a hand sign.

The order of the lines was Team Ten with Ino in the lead, Team Eight with Kiba in front and Akamaru still shaking in Kiba's jacket, Team Seven with Naruto in front, Team Gai with Neji in front, Kabuto's team with him in front, the Sand Sibs with Gaara in front, Kaminari's team with her in front then the sound ninjas with Dosu in front. The ninja behind him had both arms in a sling.

* * *

"First of all, congratulations on finishing the second exam." Anko said into a headset.

"I'm so hungry." Chouji said holding his stomach.

"What a drag there's so many left." Shikamaru said. "This is such a pain."

"Sasuke and his team have passed too." Ino said happily.

"Well of course they did." Shikamaru said. "After all the trouble we went through to keep them safe, they better have passed."

"Ame." Naruto said looking over at Kaminari. She smiled at him and Gaara looked at her without moving his head. She turned her smile to him and he looked forward.

"Hey look, all of the leaf village rookies are here too." Sakura said.

"Whoa, everybody's here: old man Hokage, Iruka-Sensei and even bushy brow. It looks like absolutely nobody got left out this time.

"I don't have a very good feeling about this." Sasuke said holding his shoulder.

"Alright now pay attention." Anko said into her headset. "Lord Hokage is going to explain the third exam to you. You better listen carefully maggots." She turned to the Hokage. "Lord Hokage, they're all yours."

"Hm." The Hokage stepped forward. He cleared his throat. "First, before I tell you what the third exam entails I want to explain something about the test itself; listen closely now, it's something that all of you need to understand. I'm going to tell you the true purpose of these exams. Why do you suppose our country holds these exams in conjunction with our allies? To raise the ability levels of our shinobi and increase friendship between allied nations to be sure but it's important that you understand its true meaning. The exams are, so to speak," He took the pipe out of his mouth and blew out smoke. "They're a representation between the battle between allied nations."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Tenten asked.

"Now, if we look at our history all the countries that we're currently allied with were once neighboring nations that continuously fought with each other for power. In order to avoid destroying each other's military strength meaninglessly those nations picked champions to do battle on behalf of their counties at a mutually selected location. That was how the Chunin Selection Exams originally began."

"Well, that's great but why do we have to go through these exams then?" Naruto asked. "I mean it's not like we're doing this to pick chunin to go fight."

"Well actually, there is no question that part of the point of these exams is to select shinobi worthy of becoming chunin, that's just not the whole story. These exams also allow for a place where shinobi can carry the pride of their nation on their backs and fight against other ninja for their very lives."

"The pride of their nation?" Sakura asked quietly.

"Many leaders and people of prominence from various counties are invited to attend this exam as guests and also possibly to seek shinobi to work for them. This exam could determine the course of your ninja work from here on out, and more importantly those rulers will watch your battles and take notes of the strengths of each ninja and each nation is developing. If there is a gap in power between the countries the strong nations are inundated with job requests for their ninja and conversely the request to countries that are deemed weak decline. Therefore, the stronger our nation is the better our position when it comes to negotiating with neighboring countries. So it's important to show how much military strength our village has."

"Okay but even so why is it necessary for us to risk our lives?" Kiba asked.

"The country's strength is the village's strength. The village's strength is the shinobi's strength. And the true strength of the shinobi is only achieved when it's pushed to its limits such as in a life and death battle. This exam is a chance for each nation to display the strength of its shinobi and hence the strength of the nation itself. It's because this is an exam where your life is on the line that it has meaning. And it's for this very reason and for the strength of the nation that your forerunners fought in this exam. It's truly a dream worth striving for."

"But then why did you use the expression friendship before?" Tenten asked.

"But you've only remembered half of what I said. You also mustn't have the wrong idea of the exams meaning. This is a custom in which balance is preserved by fighting and dying. In the world of the shinobi that _is_ friendship. The third exam is a fight for life with the pride of your village and your own dreams at state."

"Hmph, well he sure convinced me." Naruto said.

"Any test is fine." Gaara said. "Just tell me what the details of the exam are already. I can handle anything you throw at me."

"Mm." The Hokage nodded once. "Very well then. Now listen closely I'm going to tell you exactly what you'll all be doing on the third exam." He coughed. A ninja suddenly dropped down out of nowhere and was kneeling before the Hokage.

"Lord Hokage." He said. "Before you do please allow me, Hayate Gekkō appointed as proctor of the third exam, to speak first."

"So be it." Hayate stood.

"It's nice to meet you all." He coughed. He turned his head to look at everyone. He had bags under his eyes. "There's something I would like all of you" He coughed some more. "to do before the third exam." He coughed. "Uhh, we have to have a preliminary exam before we can move on to the real one."

"Huh?"

"A what?" Sakura asked.

"Preliminary?!" Shikamaru shouted. "Just what do you mean by that?!"

"I'm sorry, sensei," Sakura said. "excuse me, but I really don't see the point. What's this preliminary all about? Why can't we just move on to the third exam?"

"Uhh, well you see… the first and second exams might have been too easy. The fact is we never expected so many of you to still be here. According to the rules of Chunin exams a preliminary round can be held at any stage in order to reduce the number of candidates remaining."

"But-! Is that fair?" Sakura asked.

"It's just that at this stage we have to speed things up a bit. As lord Hokage said, a lot of important guests will be watching. We can't afford to waste their time. They've come to see only the best. So if there are any of you who feel you are not in top physical condition, now's your chance to-" He coughed. "Sorry about that. As I was saying, any of you who don't feel up to this now is the time for you to bow out. The preliminaries will be starting immediately."

"Come on! You mean right now?!" Kiba shouted.

"We just finished barely surviving the last exam, don't we get a break?" Ino asked.

"Man, what a drag." Shikamaru said.

"Heeey, when do we eat?" Chouji asked. Naruto gulped.

"Oh yeah uh… the winners will be determined by one on one combat sudden death." Hayate said. "So like I said if there's anyone who doesn't feel up to it, now's the time to raise your hand." Sasuke suddenly grabbed his shoulder in pain.

"Sasuke?" Sakura asked. Naruto looked back at Sasuke. Sakura whispered to him. The jounin and the Hokage were talking about Sasuke. Sakura was trying to convince Sasuke to quit. She started to raise her hand but Kabuto raised his.

"What the?" Kiba looked over.

"Okay, ya got me." Kabuto said. "I'm out."

"But- Kabuto." Naruto said. Hayate flipped through papers on his clipboard. He coughed.

"Kabuto Yakushi, the leaf village right? Okay you can go on and step back."

"Gottcha." Kabuto said and walked past his teammates towards the back.

"Kabuto! Hold on a second you can't quit!" He stopped as Naruto shouted at him. "I don't get this! What's going on?!"

"Oh Naruto, I'm sorry, but my body is just too beat up." Kabuto said. "I can't hack it. The fact is, ever since orientation with that dust up with the sound village genin, I've had no hearing at all in my left ear. And now to have to put my life on the line? To fight again right away without a break? I can't do it." Naruto looked down. One of Kabuto's teammates, Yoroi, whispered to him. They had a short and quiet conversation before Kabuto continued walking away. He turned to wave at Naruto with a smile. Some of the ninja watched him walk away. His steps echoed until they faded. Hayate coughed.

"Now then, does anybody else wanna quit?" He asked. Sakura started to raise her hand but Sasuke grabbed her wrist. Kaminari looked back at them and frowned. He let go but continued to talk to her. Naruto suddenly yelled at Sasuke and Sasuke told him something that left Naruto speechless. Kaminari glanced at Gaara and saw he was looking at her. They held eye contact for a few moments until Hayate spoke again. "Alright then, we'll now begin the preliminary round. This round will consist of one on one individual combat at full battle intensity. This is not an exercise. There are 23 of you remaining so that means we will need 11 matches and the 23rd person will fight the winner of the first fight. The surviving candidates from these matches will advance to the third exam. As for the rules there are none; you will fight until one dies or concedes defeat or is rendered physically incapable of continuing the contest. Naturally those who are losing are urged to concede defeat promptly to avoid a fatal outcome. Furthermore, as proctor I'm given a certain amount of leeway in judging the matches." He coughed some. "I might occasionally intervene if a match seems hopeless to save as many lives as possible. Now it's time to reveal what fate has been chosen for you." He looked back at Anko who nodded.

"Open the panel." She said into her mic. A large blue panel in the top left corner was raised

"The names of each pair of opponents are chosen completely at random. Before each match these names will appear on the display behind me. As there's nothing more to say let's begin. In a moment the names of the first two opponents will appear." Everyone was looking up. The screen blinked on and circled through names until it stopped with a buzz. Sasuke smirked.

"I couldn't ask for anything more." Yoroi said.

"Alright now those whose names have been drawn come forward." Hayate said. Sasuke and Yoroi walked over then faced each other. "You have been chosen for the first match. Yorio Akado and Sasuke Uchiha are there any objections.

"None here." Sasuke said.

"No." Yoroi said.

"Uhh, alright then, let's begin the first match." Hayate said. He coughed. "Okay, everyone other than the two opposing candidates will now clear the area and move to the upper level." Everyone headed to the stairs on the sides. Naruto and his team stayed put and Kakashi walked over to them said a few words then walked away.

* * *

Kaminari and the twins found their own spot and the twins leaned against the railing. Kiyoshi walked up to them with a small smile and stood by them. All the teams stood together with their squad leaders. The leaf village genin were on one side of the upper level while the Sand Sibs and the sound village ninja were on the other side along with Kabuto's teammates.

"Then if you're ready," Hayate said. "Let the match begin."

"Oh I'm ready." Yoroi said making a hand sign.

"So am I." Sasuke said getting into a stance. Yoroi took out shuriken and threw them as Sasuke took out his kunai and deflected them. Sasuke suddenly fell. He looked up and dodged just as Yoroi punched the ground where he had been. Sasuke stabbed his kunai into the ground and spun on it to knock Yoroi down. Yoroi fell and Sasuke grabbed his arm while Sasuke's legs held him down.

"Hey he got him!" Naruto shouted.

"Really?" Yoroi asked. He gripped the front of Sasuke's started and his hand started glowing with chakra. Sasuke didn't move as Yoroi lifted his arm and slammed it down on him. Yoroi jumped up and back as Sasuke laid there. Yoroi started to run at him.

"Sasuke no!" Sakura shouted. Sasuke sat up just as Yoroi grabbed him by his head. He pushed him down again and Sasuke tried to get his hand off. One of Sasuke's arms fell.

"What the- my chakra what are you doing?!"

"You're just noticing it now?!" Yoroi asked with a laugh.

"My Chakra, you're stealing it from me!"

"You finally caught on huh?" Yoroi laughed as Sasuke's other hand fell. Sasuke's fist clenched and he kicked Yoroi off.

"Get _off_ me!" Sasuke sat up painfully.

"So you've still got some strength left, huh? Impressive… for a guinea pig." Yoroi said. "Don't worry little man, I'll make it short and sweet." Yoroi said making his hand glow blue again before running at Sasuke. Sasuke got up and dodged as Yoroi went to grab him. He kept dodging until Yoroi's hand brushed Sasuke's ear. Sasuke staggered away. "What's the matter? Is that really the best you can do?" Sasuke swung a kick as Yoroi jumped away then laughed.

"Errrr! Hey Sasuke! Come on man! What was that?! and you call yourself an Uchiha?!" Sasuke looked up at Naruto. "You're gunna let this goon walk all over you! Come on! Stop messing around and get it in gear!"

"I'll teach you to turn your back on me!" Yoroi said running at Sasuke. Sasuke turned back. "Big mistake and your last!" Sasuke dodged multiple times then suddenly was gone. Yoroi was suddenly kicked up from under by Sasuke with Lee's move. Lee, Gai and Naruto looked shocked. As Yoroi flew up Sasuke joined him.

"Okay I admit it, I kinda borrowed that move but from here on in it's all original." Sasuke put two fingers against Yoroi's back.

"Huh? The dancing leaf shadow?"

"Now take this!" Suddenly Sasuke's curse mark started to grow over his face but he pushed it back. Sasuke smirked. "Here we go." Sasuke turned Yoroi, the kicked him but Yoroi blocked it.

"Heh, you're no match for me." Sasuke maneuvered around and swung a kick down. The two began to fall as Sasuke pulled back his fist.

"Come back here!" Sasuke said as he punched him. "_I'm_ not done yet!" Sasuke swung his foot down as Yoroi hit the ground. "Lion's barrage!" Sasuke slid back and rolled onto his stomach. Neither stood. Hayate walked over to Yoroi and crouched by him.

"Well, this one's had it." Hayate said. Sasuke sat up breathing heavily and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. "I'm declaring this match over." Hayate stood. "As the winner of this preliminary round Sasuke Uchiha advances to the finals.

"Way to go!" Naruto shouted. Sasuke was about to fall back but Kakashi transported behind him and used his leg to keep Sasuke up. He was, of course, holding one of his books.

"Hm, not bad." Sasuke looked back at him and smirked. "Funny, before the lion's barrage your technique was very reminiscent of Gai's Taijutsu. You must have used your Sharingan to copy it when you fought with Rock Lee that time."

"You okay?! Hey Sasuke!" Naruto shouted and giggled. "You won but in such an uncool way! You came out looking like you're the one who got beat up!" Naruto laughed.

"Idiot. Give me a break ya little- ah well." Sasuke smirked at Lee who was looking at him. Two medical ninja took Yoroi away on a stretcher and one walked over to Sasuke.

"Sasuke Uchiha, maybe you should come along to the infirmary too and let us treat your injuries."

"I think you're out of your league with this one." Kakashi said.

"Huh?"

"I'll look after him." Sasuke looked back and Kakashi crouched behind him. "Okay up you go. You're coming with me." He stood. "Come on, let's go." The two walked out of the room.

"Uh, okay then." Hayate said. "Since the winner of the first match has left the last remaining candidate will have to fight someone else, but we'll get to that later. For now let's move right on to the second match." The screen blinked.

**Shino Aburame**

**VS**

**Zaku Abumi **

The sound ninja with the two broken arms smirked.

"Ha, which sucker is that?" He asked. Shino looked at him.

"Step forward please." Hayate said. The two went down and faced each other. "Very good. Now if you're both ready then we'll begin."

"How's he supposed to fight with two broken arms?" Akira asked allowed. Akio shrugged.

"Candidates ready? Begin." Hayate said backing up. Neither moved.

"If you fight me you won't be able to recover." Shino warned. "Forfeit and withdraw."

"Heh, well what do you know, I've got a little movement in one of them." Zaku said moving his left arm. "One good arms more than enough to beat you!" He ran at him with his left arm out of the sling. He swung but Shino blocked him.

"You couldn't beat me using both your arms."

"Yeah well I've got news for ya!" The thing on his palm started to make a sound. "Try this! Blastic sound wave!" There was a large puff of smoke as Shino got hit and rolled on impact with the ground. The smoke started to clear. "Alright _fool_, you had enough? Huh?" Shino was standing as the smoke cleared. "He's there's no way!" Suddenly there was a weird sound. "Hey… what?" Bugs were coming out of the top of Shino's jacket and through three holes on Shino's face. "Great, now that you've creeped us all out what happens next?" Suddenly Zaku heard the noise from behind him and saw a large swarm of bugs on the ground coming towards him.

"They're a rare species of parasitic beetles that attack their prey in a swarm, eating its chakra." Shino said as he held one on his fingernail. "An army of this size will suck you dry in less than a minute. Your only intelligent option is to forfeit the match. You can't fight two opponents at once. If you use your good arm against me my _friends _will swarm you from behind. Conversely, if you use your good arm to keep _them _at bay then you'll have _me_ on your blind side. Either way your defeat will be certain and unpleasant. It's wise to always have an ace in the hole." Shino made a hand sign and held it up. Zaku looked extremely angry and raised his arm, opening his palm.

"Now you've done it! Now you've made me mad!" He shouted as he pointed his other arm at the bugs. Shino lowered his hands. Zaku's right arm shook his he opened his palm. "Like you said yourself, always have an ace in the hole. Right!?"

"What the-? I thought his right arm was shot." Kiba said. Zaku let out an angry cry. "I'll blow you away!" Suddenly the middle of his arms were glowing blue like something was leaking from them. "Arg! My arms! What's wrong with them?!" He cried as he let his arms hang. He looked at his hands in shock. "W-what?!" Shino's bugs were on his hands and in the hole on his palm. Shino was suddenly behind him.

"Earlier while I was distracting you with my helpful advice I was also sending some of my little friends to plug up those bothersome wind-holes in your hands. Both hands just to be sure. See while an ace in the hole is good, two aces are better." Zaku went to hit Shino but Shino knocked him away to the ground. Hayate walked over and crouched by Zaku. There were holes in his arms where the wind had blown out.

"I'd say this one… has had it." Hayate said. "The winner is Shino Aburame." Zaku was taken away on a stretcher while Shino returned to his team. "Uh, alright everyone, moving right on to the third match." Kakashi returned to his team. The screen blinked.

**Misumi Tsurugi **

**VS **

**Kaminari**

* * *

**So her fight will be in the next chapter. I really hope I don't disappoint you guys but the way the fight goes is how it ****_has_**** to go for progress. I'll talk more in the next end A/N.**


	20. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its plot/characters. I only own my OCs and my plot and any changes made to the plot of the anime.**

**And yes I switched Kankurō out for Kaminari in this battle.**

* * *

**Misumi Tsurugi **

**VS **

**Kaminari**

Everyone looked at Kaminari who was already walking down the stairs.

"Let me do this myself." She whispered to Inazuma. "Don't help me." Kaminari and Kabuto's other teammate walked down to face each other.

"I'm not like Yoroi, I don't get careless, not even against kids." Misumi said. "A piece of advice once I go into my jutsu, give up quick. If you do, I promise to make it short and painless." Kaminari didn't respond.

"Alright then, if you're ready, let the third match begin." Hayate said. Misumi ran at Kaminari and swung his arm. Kaminari brought up her arms to block him. She pushed against his arm as he did. He smirked and Kaminari let out a surprised gasp.

"Huh?!" Musumi's limbs wrapped around one of her arms and both legs. One of his arms went around her neck and started to choke her. "Ack!" She tried to pry his arm away with one hand.

"I dislocated every one of my joints softening my body, then with my chakra I can control it perfectly."

"Urk-!"

"The more you struggle the tighter I'll squeeze. I could break your neck right now if I wanted to." Misumi said. "And I will unless you give up!"

"Ame!" Naruto shouted.

"Not- ack- happ- urk- ening!" Kaminari choked out. Her face was turning red as she gasped for air.

"You wanna die?!" He shouted. "I don't _have _to kill you really. I could just let you pass out. Any second now…" Kaminari's hand tightened against his arm then suddenly fell. Her head fell forward as she passed out from lack of air.

"Ame!" Naruto shouted gripping the railings. A sudden force emitted from Kaminari's body causing Misumi to be forced off and fly back. Kaminari fell forward and caught herself on her hands and knees with her head still down. She was panting and gasping for air with one hand holding her throat. Misumi's body returned to normal as he got up. He was about to run over when Kaminari started laughing, quietly at first then louder. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"What's so funny girl?! You may have gotten free once but it _won't_ happen again!" Kaminari continued to giggle and lifted her head to look at him. He hesitated as he saw her eyes.

"Inazuma…" Naruto whispered gripping the railing. Sakura swallowed. Kakashi's eyes widened but didn't want to intervene unless absolutely necessary. The twins leaned forward and watched with wide and intrigued eyes while Kiyoshi was ready to go down there if need be.

"I'm not the one who's gunna die today." Inazuma said in a sickly sweet voice as she stood up. She continued to smile and giggle. "Any last words?"

"You think you can beat me? HA! Now I'm _really_ going to break your little neck!" He shouted before running at her. She giggled and the second he was within three feet of her he went flying. Everyone gasped and watched him for a moment before looking back at Inazuma who lowered her leg after the kick. She suddenly vanished and reappeared where Misumi was about to land. She swung her leg in another kick sending him back to where he started. She teleported once again and punched him in the face, sending him flying once again. He hit the ground a skidded until he hit the wall.

"Whoa! Did you see that?!" Kiba shouted.

"I didn't even see her move!" Ino said. "I didn't even blink and she was over there!"

"She is really fast." Lee said. Inazuma stood up as Misumi stood with a grunt. Inazuma ran at him. He glared at her and started running at her as well. Suddenly she was gone and he was sent forward onto the ground. Inazuma had appeared behind him and kicked him in the back. Misumi rolled and got up again. He attacked again but Inazuma blocked his every attack. She used her leg in a sweep to knock him down. Misumi groaned in pain and Inazuma was suddenly sitting on his stomach with two kunai to his throat crossed in an X.

"You move and I'll slit your throat." She hissed with a smile. "Give up?" He glared up at her.

"Y-Yeah…" He said to her. She grinned and pressed the kunai to his throat harder. "What the hell- I said I give u-! Ack!" Everyone stared in the room froze as Inazuma crossed the kunai quickly, slitting Misumi's throat twice, and held the kunai up to the side. Blood had splashed onto her face and also dripped from the kunai onto the floor. Misumi's hands flew to his throat as he tried to stop the bleeding as Inazuma giggled. He looked at her with wide eyes. She raised both kunai up high together, intending to stab him in the chest. She brought her arms down when suddenly Kakashi was behind her. He grabbed her making her drop the kunai, holding her arms to her sides, and stood up. She kicked her legs out as she struggled against him.

"No fair!" She screamed. "I'm not done!" She thrashed violently with wide, wild red eyes. "Put me down! Put me-!" She gasped as Kiyoshi, who appeared in front of her, put two fingers to her forehead and knocked her out. Her head fell forward and her limbs dangled. Kakashi changed his hold on her and carried her in his arms, her head hanging back over his arm.

"Um… The winner is Kaminari." Hayate said as Kakashi carried her towards the exit of the room. Everyone looked from Misumi, who was bleeding out as the medical ninja tried to help him, to Kakashi and Kaminari. The twins had wide eyes and looked worried. Naruto shared their look. Sakura looked even more afraid of the girl while everyone else simply looked shocked or afraid. Gaara on the other hand had the smallest smirk on his face. His siblings looked at him warily.

* * *

Kaminari opened her eyes slowly. She was in an infirmary bed. She sat up.

"She's awake!" She looked over to see the twins. She looked away from them and looked down at her hands. There were blood stains on them.

"Kami-Chan?"

"Hey… Nari-Chan, are you okay?"

"You had us worried." Akira said.

"Yeah, don't scare us like that." Akio said.

"We didn't think you were gunna wake up that fast." Akira said.

"Nari-Chan?" Kaminari was staring at her hands and she had started to shake slightly.

"Not again…" She whispered. "You did it again…"

"Hey, Kaminari." Akira reached out to touch her shoulder.

"Get away from me!" She suddenly shouted. Her arms wrapped around herself as she shut her eyes tightly. The two took a step back at her outburst.

"Nari-Cha-"

"I said get away!" She screamed. Her hands flew to her head and she brought her knees to her chest. "Get out!" The two quickly left the room and closed the door behind them.

* * *

The two leaned against the door and looked at each other. Naruto ran down the hallway.

"Hey guys! Kiyoshi sensei told me to get you guys. There's only four more matches left we don't know who could be next. You gotta be in the room; they might call one of you guys soon." He said. "Did Ame wake up yet?" He looked at the closed door. The twins exchanged looks then looked at Naruto and shook their heads.

"Not yet." They said in unison.

"Alright, come on." The three returned to the battle room.

* * *

Kaminari stared down at her hands, she grabbed the bed sheets and tried to get the blood off. She glared at her hands. Kaminari closed her eyes.

"I told you _not _to help." Kaminari growled out opening her eyes and looking at the space in front of her. In front of her was a girl who looked just like her but with black hair and red eyes. She was sitting crisscross in front of her and had her arms crossed.

"You passed out." The girl said with a pout. "If I didn't help then you would've been out of the exams. You didn't even fight the guy." She turned her head away and closed her eyes. "I was just trying to help."

"That guy is probably _dead_ now." Kaminari hissed.

"He was gunna kill _you_!" Inazuma shouted turning her head back to look at Kaminari.

"I passed out, he wasn't gunna kill me."

"Either way you would've failed!"

"I know!"

"You're not as strong as you think you are! You wouldn't have passed before if I hadn't helped! This is just a repeat of last time!"

"Exactly, you did this last time too! You didn't let me show my own strength!"

"I didn't kill anyone last time!"

"No but you broke someone's legs!" Inazuma blinked and looked at Kaminari.

"So you remember?" She looked hopeful. Kaminari blinked.

"I don't… know why I said that…" Kaminari looked confused. Inazuma frowned. The two girls held eye contact.

"Who are you yelling at?" Kaminari opened her eyes and looked at the empty space in front of her. She looked over at Naruto who had come into the room.

"Naruto? Shouldn't you be with everyone else?"

"I already fought." Naruto said with a grin. "_and_ _won_!" He said putting his hand on his sides. Kaminari smiled slightly.

"That's great, Naru."

"You won your fight too." Kaminari frowned.

"What happened to that guy?" She asked quietly.

"Uh… I don't know, they took him away." Naruto said with a shrug.

"Who's fighting now?"

"Neji and Hinata were when I left. Akira and Akio said you weren't awake."

"Yeah… I yelled at them… I guess they thought I needed some time to myself."

"Are you okay now?" Naruto asked walking over. He sat on the bed. Kaminari nodded. "Soo… who were you yelling at?"

"Zuma…"

"Oh…" Naruto said. Kaminari sighed. "So… are you going to come watch the rest of the matches?"

"After what happened?" She looked at him.

"Just pretend it didn't happen." Naruto said with a sheepish grin.

"She slit his throat…" Kaminari said. "He could die. He probably _is_ dead."

"But you have to see Akira and Akio's fights. They're your team." Kaminari turned on the bed and started to stand. "You alright?" Naruto asked as he stood and held out his arms in case he had to catch her.

"I'm okay." She said.

"Come on." Naruto said with a grin.

* * *

The two walked into the large room and went to Team Seven's spot. Kaminari tried to ignore the looks she got from everyone. The twins ran over to them.

"Hey, you're okay now right?" They asked. Kaminari nodded. She looked across the way and saw Gaara staring at her. She looked at his siblings and saw them talking quietly and looking at her. She looked to her left and saw Ino, Chouji and Shikamaru giving her wary looks. She also saw Lee looking at her. She looked down at her hands on the railing. Kiyoshi put a hand on her shoulder. She looked back at him and he gave her a small smile. She looked down at Neji and Hinata. They were fighting hand to hand. Their Byakugan were activated. Hinata went to strike and the two stopped. Hinata suddenly coughed up blood.

"So that's in huh? That's all there is to the main branch's power?" Neji asked.

"Wait what is going on?! I mean I saw Hinata hit Neji perfectly!" Naruto said. Hinata hit Neji's arm away and went to hit him but he caught her arm and poked it with two fingers. He pushed Hinata's sleeve up and there were red dots on her arm.

"B-But you mean-? All this time you…" She said.

"That's right, I could see your chakra points the whole time." Neji said.

"What is he talking about?" Naruto asked. Kakashi explained chakra points to him and Sakura. Neji hit Hinata and she flew back and slid on the ground.

"Look Hinata, I'm completely out of your league and that won't change. This is what separates the elite from the failures." Hinata sat up panting and looked at him. "You may not like it but it's a fact. From the instant you said you wouldn't run anymore your fate was sealed you were destined for failure. And now, you're consumed with hopelessness." He started to walk over to her. "Now this is your last warning Hinata, forfeit this match."

"I…I…" Blood fell from her mouth and she clenched her fists. "I… never…" She struggled to get up. "Go back…" She started to stand. "on my word. Because that too is my nindo, _my_ ninja way." She stood completely and faced Neji.

"I had no idea that Hinata's as tough as she is." Naruto said.

"She is a lot like you." Lee said.

"You know, come to think of it, she is always watching you." Sakura said.

"Huh?" Naruto looked at her then back down at Hinata. Hinata was smiling then activated her Byakugan. Neji did the same.

"Bring it on." He said. Hinata suddenly put her hands to her chest in pain and coughed up more blood. Neji got into a stance with one hand up.

"Doesn't it seem like the difference in strength makes it unfair?" Sakura asked. "He's just way too strong. It's a mismatch, seriously." Naruto was gripping a thing of medical ointment that Hinata had given him.

"Go Hinata! You can do it!" Naruto shouted. Hinata ran at Neji and they started fighting. They both went to attack at the same time and Neji hit her first sending a blast of chakra. She coughed up blood and fell over.

"You just don't get it do you?" Neji asked her. "Your strikes were ineffective from the very start. You're finished." He walked away.

"It's too bad, but after that blow to the heart Hinata is done." Gai said. Naruto looked upset. Hinata wasn't moving. Hayate walked up to her.

"Since she's no longer able to continue this match-"

"No!" Naruto shouted cutting him off. "Don't stop this match!"

"Naruto, what on earth are you doing?" Sakura asked. "Hinata's had it. You can see she's unconscious can't you?" Naruto smirked and everyone looked shocked to see Hinata getting up slowly. She managed to stand but was still shaky and was holding herself with one arm.

"What do you think you're doing?" Neji asked. "If you continue to fight, you're going to die." He activated his Byakugan.

"I'm far from finished." Hinata said taking a few steps closer.

"Give up the tough guy act. I can tell you're barely standing." Neji said. "You've been carrying a very heavy burden having been born to the main branch of the Hyuuga clan. And you've cursed and blamed yourself for being weak. But look, people can't change the way they are, that's just how it is. Just accept defeat and you won't have to suffer anymore."

"No, you're wrong brother, you've got it backwards. You see I can tell that you're the one; you're suffering much more than I."

"I'm what?"

"You are the one who's all torn up about the fate of the main and side branches of the Hyuuga clan." Neji looked pissed and ran at Hinata.

"Neji no! The match is over!" Hayate shouted as he started running to stop him. Suddenly Gai was holding Neji back, Kakashi had a hand on his arm while Kuranai held his other and Hayate had two fingers on Neji's forehead.

"Neji, get a hold of yourself." Gai said. "You promised me you wouldn't let this whole head family thing get you riled up."

"Why are you and the other Jounin butting in? The head family gets special treatment huh?" Suddenly Hinata fell forward and started coughing up blood. Kuranai ran over to her.

"Hinata!" She put a hand on her back. "Hinata."

"Hinata!" Naruto shouted as he, Lee, and Sakura jumped over the railing before running over. "Hinata, you okay?" Naruto crouched next to her. "Hey!"

"Na-Naruto…I just…I…do you…" She ended on a whisper before her eyes closed.

"Hey you, loser." Neji said.

"Hm?" Naruto looked over at him.

"I have two pieces of advice for you." Neji said. "First of all: If you intend to call yourself a shinobi, stop that stupid cheering of yours it's disgraceful. And second: once a failure, always a failure. You can't change that." Naruto stood.

"We'll just see about that." Naruto ran at him but Lee stopped him. "What are you doing?"

"Naruto, I get where you are coming from believe me but, the rules say all fighting must be done officially in a match. A loser beating a genius through sheer willpower, now would not that make for an exciting match, even if I am the one who is going to have to fight Neji. Of course if you ending up fighting him that is fine too."

"Alright fine, you win Lee." Naruto said turning around and walking back to Hinata. Lee gave a thumbs up to Gai who gave one back. Hinata coughed up blood again. Kuranai unzipped her coat and put a hand on her chest and one on her neck. Kuranai glared at Neji.

"I wouldn't waste your time glaring at me when you really should be taking care of her." Neji said.

"Get a medic! And hurry up!" Kuranai shouted.

"We're coming." One said as they ran over. They rolled out the stretcher. "She has no pulse." Naruto ran over.

"This is very serious. She's got ten minutes at best. Let's get her to the emergency room now!" They put her on the stretcher and started to take her away.

"Stand back." Naruto watched them.

"Hinata." He said quietly. "Hinata, I give you my word." He crouched and put his fingers in her blood before standing up and facing Neji. He held out his closed fist and blood dripped. "I vow to win."

* * *

**So, I wasn't being lazy about Kaminari's fight, I had it stop at the punch before but I added things. And yeah I switched her with Kankurō cause I had to put her in there near the beginning so I could skip things while she was out. I'll have a thing where ****_she_**** fights after the attack. I'll try to make it epic and I might be able to match it up to some epic music. It's really good anime fight music. You'll see. **


	21. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its plot/characters. I only own my OCs and my plot and any changes made to the plot of the anime.**

* * *

A cleaning guy came in to clean up Hinata's blood.

"Ahhh! Now you're talking! All you can eat! Bring it ooooooon!" Chouji shouted. Naruto and Kaminari looked down the way toward him. They were near the stairs leaning against the railing by themselves.

"Hey you!"

"Hm?" Naruto and Kaminari looked over to see Kankurō walking up the stairs.

"How come you're all by yourself? Why aren't cha hangin' with your buddies?"

"Huh, what's it to you?" Naruto asked looking forward. Kaminari leaned back so Kankurō could see her.

"I'm here to Kitty-Kun." She said with a pout. He looked a bit annoyed at the use of the nickname.

"Sorry doll, didn't see ya there." Naruto cast Kankurō a sideways glare. "So tell me something about this guy Neji. I get the feeling we didn't see the full extent of his powers in the last fight, did we? So what's his story?"

"I'm gunna pulverize him! That's his story!" Naruto shouted.

"_Okay_, but that's not quite what I meant." Kankurō said. "Ya know, you seem like a nice guy, I like you."

"Well, don't take this the wrong way but… I _don't_ like _you!_" Naruto said facing him. Kaminari rolled her eyes.

"Oh yeah." Kankurō said looking at her. "I've been meaning to ask you… what happened during your fight? You went nuts." Kaminari looked forward and didn't answer.

"Leave her alone." Naruto said glaring up at Kankurō.

"I can ask her a question." Kankurō said glaring back.

"Well _I_ say ya can't!"

"What are you her boyfriend?"

"Wha-No!" Naruto said as his face went red. He looked back at Kaminari to see her turning her head away from the two.

"That happen often?" Kankurō asked Kaminari.

"I said leave her alone." Naruto growled glaring at Kankurō . Hayate coughed and everyone looked over at him.

"Now then, we'll continue the competition." He said.

"Alright! This time you'll be picked I just know it." Gai said to Lee giving him a thumbs up. "You ready Lee?"

"No." Lee said turning away.

"Huh?"

"I have been waiting so long, I do not care. I might as well go last." The names on the board started changing. They stopped and Gaara used his sand to transport down.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Chouji screamed. "_Safe again_!"

"Stop that!" Ino said hitting him on the head.

"You want everyone to know you're a chicken?" Shikamaru asked also hitting him.

"Lee." Sakura looked over at him after seeing his name on the board.

"It worked like a charm." Lee said after kicking. "I knew if I said I wanted to be last I would be next!" He kept kicking the air. "I simply applied the principal which states that sometimes the surest way to hit something is to stop trying to hit it." He started punching the air. "It is a form of reverse psychology!"

"Huu-ah! That's my student." Gai said.

"I was absolutely not going to be last no matter what! Ha ha! I sure fooled them did I not?"

"Now then, listen carefully." Gai said. Lee stopped punching. "A piece of advice before you begin."

"Sir." Lee saluted. Gai leaned closer to Lee and whispered.

"Look, you see that gourd that Gaara's wearing? Watch out, there's something weird about it."

"Good advice sir."

"Don't write it down!" Gai said when Lee started writing it on a paper. "What are you thinking? After all you're not going to have any time to read any notes during the match are you?"

"Ah, more good advice." Lee said before writing it down.

"Now Rock and Roll!" Gai shouted pointing.

"Yeah!" Lee shouted before vaulting over the railing to the floor. Lee took up his stance. "I knew that sooner or later we would have to meet and I am glad it is sooner." Gaara just started at him.

"I don't know what kinda moves that guy with the dumb haircut has got but he'll never take Gaara down." Kankurō said. "Not in this lifetime."

"Wrong." Naruto said.

"What?" Kankurō looked at him. "Lee's stronger than you think. You have no idea."

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Lee asked after catching something. He dropped the cord to Gaara's gourd.

"Alright then." Hayate said. "If you are both ready… begin!" Lee ran at Gaara and jumped up.

"Ah! Leaf Hurricane!" He kicked but Gaara's sand blocked it before getting bigger. "huh?" Lee jumped away while flipping to avoid it. The sand went back into the gored.

"What is that?" Ino asked.

"It's sand." Sakura said. Lee ran at him again and sand came out. Gaara remained motionless, his arms still crossed. Lee jumped and kicked but the sand blocked him. He kept attacking but the sand kept blocking. He heard it behind him and took out a kunai. He sliced at the sand as it attacked him then tried to kick. He rolled out of the way of the sand multiple times. Before jumping up and throwing kunai at the side of Gaara's head. The sand stopped them.

"Wow." Naruto said as he watched.

"Even as fast as he is, Lee can't get anywhere close to him." Sakura said.

"The sand, he's using it as a shield."

"He's not doing it." Kankurō said. "The sand is protecting him of its own accord."

"Huh?"

"It's almost like a living thing." Kankurō said. "It'll come to Gaara's defense without his doing anything. That's why Gaara's never been injured. No one can get at him. No one's ever even been able to touch him."

"That's so cool." Kaminari said.

"Yeah cool's the word for it." Kankurō said.

"Well, is that all?" Gaara asked. "I hope you haven't finished entertaining me. We haven't had enough… fun." Gaara lifted his head and the sand came at Lee. It grabbed him around his leg before swinging him around. It threw him against the wall and Lee slid down. At came at him again but he dodged to the side and ran at Gaara before trying to punch him.

"I don't get it." Sakura said. "He's only using taijutsu. Can't he see that's never going to work? Why doesn't he get some distance and use ninjutsu?"

"Yes, that might be a good idea." Gai said. "That is if he had any."

"Huh?" Sakura looked up at him.

"Lee has no ninjutsu or genjutsu skills at all." Gai said.

"You're kidding." Sakura said.

"Oh ho that's nothing you should've seen how hopeless he was when I first met him. No talent what so ever."

"Really? I can't believe it." Lee back-flipped away from the sand but then he slipped on it and fell. The sand came at him and covered him.

"It's over." Shikamaru said. Sakura looked up to see Lee flipping in the air way up high. He landed on top of the hand statue.

"A ninja who can do neither ninjutsu or genjutsu is certainly a rarity. Lee has only his taijutsu to rely on. Some might consider that a disadvantage, but that's what makes him a winner." Gai said.

"Huh?" Sakura sounded even more confused.

"Alright Lee, take'em off." Gai said giving him a thumbs up. Lee look over and saluted.

"Uh, but Gai sensei, you said that was only as a last resort when the lives of very important people were at stake."

"That's right I did, but this is an exception."

"Really?" Lee asked a smile forming on his face. "Really?" He sounded excited. Lee sat on the statue and pulled off his orange leg warmers to reveal leg weights.

"Huh? Are those..?" Ino asked.

"How old fashioned." Shikamaru said.

"Totally cool." Naruto said.

"Totally dumb." Kankurō said.

"Ah that is better." Lee said holding each leg weight and standing. "Now I will be able to move freely." He dropped the weights. When they hit the ground it was like an explosion had gone off. The whole room shook. Everyone looked shocked.

"Alright! Now go!" Gai shouted.

"Yes Sir!" Lee said and suddenly he was gone. Gaara blinked and looked surprised. Lee was suddenly behind him and punched. Lee punched through the sand but didn't hit Gaara. Gaara looked shocked and had uncrossed his arms. Lee was suddenly on the other side of him and kicked. Gaara's head moved as Lee kicked because the sand had just barely stopped Lee's foot. Gaara looked to where Lee had been and Lee suddenly punched coming an inch away from his face. Lee ran around Gaara and punched and kicked. Lee suddenly punched with a cry and his fist went past Gaara's face.

"Close!" Sakura said with a smile. Gaara looked around as Lee seemed to blink around him kicking and punching.

"I could see that Lee had no aptitude for ninjutsu or genjutsu," Gai said. "so we skipped them and focused all of his time and energy into developing taijutsu. That way we turn his disadvantage into a blessing. Now he doesn't need those other things to win because he's transformed himself into the world's greatest taijutsu specialist." Lee was running around Gaara who was trying to see where he was. Lee jumped up and brought his foot down and kicked Gaara's head down. Lee slide away and looked up with a smirk and Gaara looked in pain and annoyed.

"Wow, that's scary." Naruto said. "And I thought he was quick on his feet before. He's been that fast all this time? He's faster than Ina-Chan."

"Who?" Kankurō asked.

"Uh- no one!" Naruto said with a sheepish grin and a chuckle. Kaminari glanced at the two then looked back at the fight.

"Yes Lee!" Gai cheered. "Let the power of youth explode!"

"Right!" Lee shouted and ran at Gaara. Gaara raised a hand and sand came up to block. Lee was suddenly behind Gaara and kicked. Gaara whirled around. "Over here!" Gaara couldn't tell where Lee was. "No here!" Lee punched Gaara sending him to the ground.

"Good!" Gai said.

"He's just, too quick." Sakura said. "That sandstorm can't keep up with him. Lee you nailed him!"

"That's incredible." Shikamaru said.

"I've never seen anyone that fast." Ino said.

"Makes me dizzy just tryin'a keep track of him." Chouji said. Gaara stood as Sand poured out of the gourd."

"Uh-oh." Kankurō said.

"Yeah uh-oh is right." Naruto said. "Your friend with the eye make-up is getting the stuffing beaten out of him."

"That isn't what I was talking about, kid." Kankurō said.

"Huh?" Lee looked at Gaara, who was hanging his head, as sand fell off his face and onto the ground. He looked up and sand was covering him completely except for a few places were the sand had broken off. Gaara was grinning with wide eyes, showing all his teeth, and making a weird sound.

"What the heck?" Naruto asked. "What's going on with this guy?! His face is falling off.

"It's like a shell made of sand." Kakashi said.

"Look there's no a mark on the guy." Shikamaru said.

"That is so weird." Sakura said. The sand around him swirled and went up to his face. The sand covered him

"I don't get it, is he made of sand or what?" Naruto asked. "All those blow and kicks Lee hit him with, did any of them get through?"

"No." Kankurō said. "It's like he's wearing a suit of armor."

"A what?"

"Ordinarily those shifting clouds of sand are enough to shield him but in the event the shield is penetrated Gaara can also wear the sand like armor as a last line of defense."

"This guy's too much. He's got armor now?" Naruto looked back at the two. "Does he have any weak spots?"

"Well is that all?" Gaara asked. Lee started to unwrap his arm wrappings until long pieces dangled from each.

"Get ready." Lee said before he started running around Gaara in a large circle.

"What are you waiting for?" Gaara asked.

"Okay you asked for it." Lee said. Suddenly Lee kicked Gaara in the chin sending him up.

"He's not floating!" Sakura said.

"Try this!" Lee kicked him in the stomach a bunch of times to get him up. The sand on the ground started to follow.

"What an incredible series of kicks." Kakashi said. Lee gave a final kick then wrapped Gaara with his bandages before grabbing onto him and spinning them both extremely fast.

"Now take this! Primary Lotus!" They hit the ground creating a large crater. Lee landed safely next to it. The smoke cleared and Gaara could be seen in the middle of the crater. The sand armor on his made it seem like he was cracked all over. "It is over. I got him."

"Right on!" Gai shouted.

"Amazing. He really did it." Naruto said.

"No… I don't believe it." Kankurō said.

"You did it!" Sakura cheered. "Way to go Lee!"

"Is he… that guy isn't dead is he?" Shikamaru asked. Hayate walked over to look at Gaara's body. A piece of sand fell in showing it was an empty shell. More pieces began to crumble away

"What?" Lee looked shocked.

"An empty shell!" Sakura shouted.

"But how? When did he do it?" Gai asked.

"It was when you closed your eyes to pray." Kakashi said. "At that moment, Lee closed his eyes too because out the pain. That's when he did it." Lee turned around hearing sand behind him and Gaara appeared, sand falling down around him. He chuckled.

"Oh no it's-" Tamari said.

"So it's happened just as I thought; that look in his eyes it can only mean…" Kankurō said. "The demon inside him has been awakened." Kaminari looked at Kankurō with a confused look. Gaara made a hand sign and the sand swirled around him before attacking Lee sending him to the ground. Lee got up shakily grunting. He turned to face Gaara. A large wave of sand rose up.

"Run Lee!" Naruto shouted. Lee put up his arms to defend himself and a large wave of sand pushed him to the wall. The sand retracted and Lee slid down the wall. The sand came at him again and Lee put up his arms around.

"The poor kid is helpless he doesn't have anything left." Kankurō said. "Gaara's just toying with him now."

"I don't get it, what's Lee doing just standing there?" Sakura asked. "With his speed he should easily be able to get out of the way of those blasts. Why doesn't he dodge them?"

"For a very simple reason." Gai said. "He can't dodge them."

"Huh? Why is that?"

"The lotus is what you might call a double edged sword." Kakashi said.

"What…What does that mean?"

"You know that it's a forbidden technique, why do you think that is?" Kakashi asked.

"Well…"

"The Lotus isn't ninjutsu or genjutsu it's taijutsu requiring extreme physical energy, the strain it puts onto the body is unimaginable. No one can sustain it for long. Right now Lee is in so much pain that he hardly move at all. Isn't that right Gai?"

"But-! But that means-!" Sakura looked back at Lee who was in a crater in the wall. He was holding his hands out and panting heavily. The sand attacked again and Lee jumped out of the way before rolling and jumping a few more times. Lee put up his arms in an X and Gaara made a hand sign. "No ninjutsu or genjutsu."

"All he's got is taijutsu." Ino said. "And not much of that."

"There's no way he can win this." Chouji said.

"Win? He'll be lucky to survive." Shikamaru said. Lee kept his arms up. Sand attacked him and he yelled out as he was sent to the ground. Gaara grinned and Lee stood up again holding up his arms. Gaara chuckled.

"What good to you think that'll do?"

"I pity the kid." Kankurō said. "Gaara will just toy with him until he begs for mercy."

"Well then," Gai said. The three looked over. "Gaara's in for a long match because that will never happen."

"Huh?"

"Lee doesn't know how to give up." Gai said. The sand attacked Lee and he landed on his stomach the sand pounded into his back. Lee screamed. The sand retracted and Lee stood again holding up his arms. Tears came to his eyes as he looked up at Gai. Sand moved around and Lee got ready.

"He can't go on, make him quit before he gets himself killed!" Sakura shouted. Lee took up his normal stance with one hand up. The sand attacked but Lee quickly moved out of the way.

"Hm?

"What?" Kankurō looked shocked.

"He's still about to-" Neji said.

"Move like that?" Naruto asked. Lee stood again with a smirk.

* * *

"Lee's smiling, he's running for his life but he's still smiling." Sakura said.

"Yes, but now it's Gaara's run to run." Gai said. "The leaf village lotus blooms twice."

"I've heard that somewhere before." Sakura said. "Yeah. Lee told me that."

"But no… Gai you didn't." Kakashi said.

"Yes Kakashi I did."

"So that genin, that boy, is able to open the eight inner gates and use the hidden lotus?"

"That's correct." Gai said.

"Well if that isn't the more…." Kakashi sighed. "Okay, so then how many of the inner gate is her able to open now?"

"Five gates."

"Okay, what exactly are these inner gates you're talking about?" Sakura asked. "And the hidden lotus?"

"The eight gates are like values or chakra limiters that must be opened if one is to… release the hidden lotus."

"I'm still not following." Sakura said. Kakashi explained where the gates were. Starting at the head: The Gate of Opening, The Gate of Rest, of Life, of Pain, of Closing, of Joy, of shock and the Gate of Death. The purpose of the gates is to limit the flow of chakra throughout the body.

"The primary lotus opens only the first gate." Gai said. "The gate of opening, releasing the brains restrains on the muscles freeing a person to bring forth his body's strength to its full extent. You've seen the results."

"And the… hidden lotus?" Sakura asked. Lee was dodging all of Gaara's sand attacks.

"At the second gate, the gate of rest, one's strength is increased further. And at the third the gate of life one enters the hidden lotus."

"Wait a minute; just the primary lotus almost destroyed him, he could barely move. What's gunna happen to him if he takes it further?"

"Exactly." Kakashi said. "By opening all eight gates you could obtain power beyond even the Hokage's the only drawback is… you die." Sakura looked shocked. Kakashi looked at Gai. "I don't know what this boy means to you Gai, but I shouldn't have to tell you that we never bring our personal feelings into play. I wouldn't have thought you were capable of this.

"You have no right, you know nothing about him." Gai said. "Nothing at all! That boy has something important to prove and he's determined to prove it even at the cost of his life. And I am determined to help him reach his goal, not for his sake but because that goal is worth reaching." Suddenly the hair around Lee moved and energy came from him.

"What?"

"I don't know what you think you're planning right now but this match is over for you." Gaara said.

"You are right. It is over. One way or another. I am not going to be the only one to lose here!" Lee's hair stared to lift from the pressure of the air around Lee. Gaara looked a bit surprised. "Gai-Sensei please let this work, it is now or never!" Lee brought his arms down as blue chakra started to glow. His hair was blowing straight up and his skin and face looked darker. "The third gate! Gate of Life open!"

* * *

**Not a lot of Kaminari I know but I think Gaara and Lee's battle is important and awesome and epic and I'm not sorry XD. **


	22. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its plot/characters. I only own my OCs and my plot and any changes made to the plot of the anime.**

* * *

The ground around Lee rose around him as his chakra and the air mixed around him. His skin was changing and his eyes were wide and white. A green glow emitted from him.

"His whole body's changing." Sakura said.

"He's turning red!" Naruto said.

"What's it mean? What's happening?" Kankurō asked.

"He's opened the third gate the gate of life, now he'll attack." Kakashi said.

"Oh no, not yet." Gai said.

"Hm?"

"The fourth gate! Gate of Pain!" Lee shouted as he was hunched over slightly. "Open!" He screamed.

"Incredible." Kakashi said. Lee continued to scream and suddenly moved forward. Gaara's eyes widened, as Lee moved the ground exploded. Lee kicked Gaara up in the chin, the force being sent up at the other genin and jounin. Everyone held up their arms and took cover. Inazuma used her barrier to protect Kaminari and Naruto.

"Huh? Gaara!" Kankurō shouted looking around.

"Where'd they go?!" Naruto asked.

"Eh huh? Up there!" Shikamaru shouted. Gaara flew up out of the smoke and dust.

"There's Gaara but what happened to Lee?" Ino asked.

"He's just gone!" Chouji said. Gaara's sand hurried to get to him. Gaara's sand armor was cracking.

"Hiding behind that sand armor again, ay?" Lee asked. "Well we will see about that!" Lee was suddenly above Gaara who sounded surprised. Lee hit Gaara down then back then all around rapidly. Gaara's sand armor was cracking and falling away. "You are a tough one!" Lee shouted. "Try this!" Lee forced his hand into a fist.

"His muscles are tearing themselves apart." Kakashi said.

"One more and we are finished!" Lee shouted as he opened the fifth gate. Lee disappeared when he was a foot away from Gaara. Gaara made a noise of surprise and suddenly Lee hit him in the stomach. Gaara went flying but Lee had a bandaged attached to him which stopped him. Gaara looked at Lee with wide eyes. Gaara's sand couldn't keep up and was far behind Lee. Lee pulled on the bandage which pulled Gaara up. "Hidden Lotus!" Lee shouted as he punched Gaara in the stomach. They hit the found sending a shock wave and smoke and dust up at everyone else. Gaara's gourd started to turn to sand to protect him. Lee rolled on the ground.

"Unbelievable he did it!" Naruto shouted.

"Gaara!" Kankurō shouted.

"Is it over?" Sakura asked. The smoked cleared.

"Huh?"

"What's that?" Ino asked. "Down there." In the center of the crater laying on a protective layer of sat Gaara was groaning in pain. He weakly reached out his arm with an open palm. His sand started going after Lee.

"I know what's coming now." Shino said. Lee struggled to get up and move away. The sand went around his left arm and leg.

"Sand coffin." Gaara said closing his fist. Lee screamed in pain. Lee hit the ground and looked to be unconscious. The sand move to attack again. "Now you die." Gaara sat up as his sand was stopped by Gai. Gaara looked at him in shock. He grabbed his head with one hand. "But why? He failed." He put his other hand on his head. "Why save him?"

"Because he's… he's my student and also because he is precious to me." Gaara gave Gai a confused glare.

"He's precious to him?" Tamari asked. "A student?" Gaara stood and his gourd reformed on his back. Gaara started walking away.

"Huh?" Gai looked after him.

"I quit."

"He what, he quits?" Sakura asked.

"It's too late for Lee. He lost the match the minute Gai intervened." Kakashi said.

"The winner is…uh?" Hayate look over at Lee. Everyone made a noise of surprise causing Gaara to turn around. Gai looked behind him to see Lee standing, his left arm and leg bleeding profusely and his left leg was shaking.

"It can't be." Gai said turning to face him. Lee raised his right hand in his normal pose. "No Lee." Gai went up to him. "It's alright, it's all over now. Anyway you're in no condition to…" Gai stopped. "Lee…oh Lee…" Gai started crying. "What have I done? Look at you not even conscious and still determined to show the world what you can do."

"He's out cold." Kakashi said pulling his headband back down. "Nothing keeping him up but sheer willpower.

"Lee… You've already proven it." Gai said before pulling him into a hug. "You are a splendid ninja."

"The winner is Gaara." Hayate said. Gaara was looking at Gai and Lee. He glared at them.

"Lee!" Sakura was about to jump down.

"Sakura." Kakashi said stopping her. "There is nothing you can do for him right now." She looked down. "There are times when sympathetic words only make things worse." Sakura looked down to see Gai lying Lee down.

"Hmph, I knew he couldn't beat Gaara." Tamari said. Naruto vaulted over the railing and started running towards them. As he passed Gaara he turned his head to look at him. Gaara looked back then watched Naruto run over.

"Hurry this boy needs attention." Hayate said to the medics who were coming. Naruto looked down at Lee.

"Bushy Brow…" Naruto stood by Gai as the medical ninja looked over Lee.

"You're his teacher aren't you?" One of the medics asked Gai.

"I am. What is it?" Gai said. The medic stood.

"Will you… come with me?" The medic asked before walking away. Gai followed.

"Careful with him." The other two medics put Lee on the stretcher. "That's right, easy." Naruto walked over and looked at Lee.

"The boy's breathing is faint but steady. There are bone fractures and muscle tares on is body. He's facing a long and difficult rehabilitation." The medic told Gai. "But I'm afraid it's not the worst of it… his left arm and leg in particular have suffered massive damage. I'm sorry I know how much it means to you both but he'll never fight again. His days as a shinobi are over." The medic bowed before going over to the stretcher to help take Lee away.

"No… he's wrong." Naruto said, tears coming to his eyes. "It can't be true." His shoulders shook. Gai walked up to Lee. He was also crying. They took him away.

"Easy for you to say it's over! What about Bushy Brow?!" Naruto screamed. "What's he supposed to do now?! Failure! I thought you said we could win?! I thought you were gunna show how a failure can-! It was all a lie wasn't it!" Naruto started to run after them but Kakashi appeared to hold him back and cover his mouth.

"That's enough Naruto." Naruto knocked his hand away.

"But sensei- It isn't fair! All he ever wanted was to prove himself against Sasuke and Neji."

"And maybe that's what led to his downfall." Kakashi said. "He was so fixated on that goal that he sacrificed his body, his future, to attain it. And now that goal is unattainable. But you're wrong about one things Naruto, it wasn't just Sasuke and Neji he was thinking of, it was you too. That's right, he risked everything just for the hope of meeting _you_ in combat. Remember that." Kakashi put his hand on Naruto's head. "Be worthy of his sacrifice." Gaara watched Lee get taken away. Gaara transported back to Tamari and Baki via sand.

"Good to have you back, Gaara." Tamari said. Gaara just looked at her. Kakashi put his hand on Naruto's shoulder before looking back at Gai. He walked over to him.

"Gai… what I said earlier, it was out of line. I was being a self-raucous fool. I realize now, that if I'd been in your shoes, I probably couldn't have stopped him either." Kakashi glanced back at Naruto. "Come on Gai, let's go up. They can't start the next match with us standing here."

"Right." Gai said.

* * *

The two jounin went back to their teams and Hayate stepped forward. The screen blinked as it circled through the names.

**Dosu Kinta**

**VS**

**Chouji Akimichi **

"But… that means…" Kaminari said. She looked down the way at the twins who were staring at the screen. "That can't happen right?" Kaminari looked at Kankurō who shrugged. She ran over to Kiyoshi. "Teammates can't fight each other right?!" Kiyoshi looked down at her and frowned.

"The rest of the exam isn't teams it's individual one on one fights." He said. The twins looked back at him. They looked at each other.

"So…." Akira said.

"Only one of us…." Akio said.

"Can become a chunin." They said together with a frown. Kaminari looked extremely upset.

"But sensei-"

"There's nothing I can do… I'm sorry." Kiyoshi said shaking his head. Kaminari clenched her jaw and gripped the railing and looked down at Chouji and Dosu.

"It's okay Kami-Chan." Akira said quietly to her. "We'll be alright."

"So it's finally my turn." Dosu said.

"Alright, the tenth match..." Hayate said. "Will begin."

* * *

**So Chouji's match then the twins' match. Tsuji VS Tsuji. **

**Let me know how I'm doing ^_^**


	23. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its plot/characters. I only own my OCs and my plot and any changes made to the plot of the anime.**

* * *

"Let the tenth round begin." Hayate said.

"You can do it!" Shikamaru cheered.

"Fatsooo!" Ino shouted. Chouji's ear twitched and he looked pissed.

"Errrrrrr! Okay! I'm gunna finish this match, it's only gunna take about two seconds and then I'm coming after you Ino!"

"Fine, fatso, if you want the match to end quickly, I'll just win it quickly." Chouji turned to give Dosu a glare.

"You're gunna go down hard you mummified werido!" Chouji said. "Ninja Art: Expansion jutsu!" Chouji shouted making a hand sign. He was suddenly inflated like a balloon. "Now the hidden leaf style taijutsu!" He pulled in his limbs and head going 'baroom' as a blue chakra force game from the holes. He jumped up into the air and started spinning before heading for Dosu. "Human Boulder!"

"Yeah! alright Chouji! you can do it! Squash him good for me!" Ino shouted. Chouji rolled at Dosu who easy dodged a few times. He moved out of the way and Chouji got stuck in the wall.

"He barely has any control over where he's going." Dosu said chuckling as he jumped up. "Now to end this." Dosu said before throwing a punch. It hit Chouji but didn't do anything.

"It's no use!" Chouji said in singsong. "My ears are covered."

"You're so wrong." Dosu flicked something on his arm and Chouji began to yell. Chouji deflated and lay on the ground in a daze. "See the human body is 70% water and water can transmit sound waves. In other words, when it comes to my attacks your whole body is basically one but ear.

"The winner is, Dosu Kinusa." Hayate said. Dosu started walking back as medics ran over to Chouji.

"Hey are you alright?" One of the medics asked.

"Meat, I wanna eat some meat." Chouji said.

"That's our Chouji, always thinkin' with his stomach." Shikamaru said.

"Uh-huh." Ino said.

"Even though he lost the least we can do is take him out for some barbecue beef." Asuma said. Hayate coughed and stood in front of the stone hands.

* * *

"Would the remaining opponents please step forward?" Hayate said. The twins looked at each other before they walked to the stairs. They faced each other. "The eleventh and final match. If you're ready… begin!" The two didn't move.

"I don't wanna fight you…" Akira said. "I'm not gunna hurt you." He shook his head. Akio frowned and lowered his head. "They're not gunna make me do that. I'll take it again next year if I have to." Akio clenched his fists. "If I forfeit then you win." Akira said with small smile.

"Don't. You. Dare." Akio growled.

"Huh?"

"Don't you dare forfeit."

"But Akio-"

"No!" Akio lifted his head. "You always do this… I'm not your little brother!" He shouted. "We were born on the same day! We're equal! Stop treating me like I'm weak! I can take care of myself you know!" He took out a kunai.

"Akio…" Akira stared at his brother. "I-I never thought you were weak!"

"You never let me do things myself! Whenever I got bullied you came and _saved the day_! Whenever I messed up you took the blame!" He took up a fighting stance. "I can handle myself. I don't need you to help me like I'm broken!"

"Akio…" Akira frown.

"Take out your kunai, brother." Akio said. Kaminari frowned as she watched the two. Naruto walked over to her. She looked at him before they looked back at the twins. Akira took out his kunai and got into a fighting stance. Akira glanced up at Kaminari and saw her worried expression. He looked back to his brother. "Don't you dare hold back!" Akio shouted before running at Akira. Akira swallowed and blocked Akio's attacks. Both jumped back away from each other and threw their kunai in sync. Both rolled out of the way.

"Them being twins," Sakura said. "It's gotta be hard to fight when you know what the other's gunna do."

"Well actually," Kiyoshi said. Sakura looked at him. "Those two are actually very different, especially in their fighting style."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked looking back at the fight. The twins were doing pretty much everything in sync, neither could land a hit.

"Their taijutsu is practically the same since they've trained together for so long but their ninjutsu are the exact opposite."

"What do you mean?"

"Just watch." Kiyoshi said as Akio made a hand sign. Suddenly shards of ice shot up out of the ground. Akira jumped up high, making a hand sign, and shot fire from his hands. Akio jumped back and shot ice daggers which Akira melted.

"Wow." Naruto said.

"You weren't kidding about them being opposites." Sakura said.

"How are they supposed to fight if they cancel each other out?" Naruto asked. "Akio can't win since fire melts ice."

"They're not supposed to fight." Kaminari said with a frown. Akio growled as Akira landed on the ground. He stood up and made a hand sign. He sent a fire blast Akio's way. Akio swung his hands up and a thick wall of ice shielded him from the fire. The fire began to melt the ice and water pooled around the bottom. Akio waved an arm and the water rose and was shot at Akira who stopped his fire blast to get out of the way. Akio waved his arms up to lift all the water into an orb.

"You can't win Akio!" Akira said. "This is pointless just give up!" He pleaded.

"No! You're not the stronger one! I refuse to lose!" Akio shouted before turning the orb into a whip and trying to hit Akira.

"We're not meant to fight Akio!" Akira said as he dodge rolled out of the way of the water whip. "I don't wanna hurt you!"

"Stop trying to protect me!" Akio shouted as he shot ice at Akira.

"Akio this is never going to end unless one of us gives up!"

"NO! Fight me!" Akio said with a glare. "Don't you dare do this to me." Kaminari was gripping the railing so tightly that her knuckles were white.

"Akio please…" He looked up at Kaminari. "I understand how you feel but not in front of-"

"No you don't! You don't get it!" Akio said shaking his head. "All my life you've been better than me! We both know mom and dad like you best!"

"Don't say that-!"

"They always paid more attention to you! They knew when I made mistakes even when you tried to cover for me!" Akio said clenching his fists. Akira frowned. "They always praise you! Akira this and Akira that! 'Akira graduated with flying colours. Akio why can't you be more like your brother?!' I'm sick of it!"

"Akio…" Akira closed his eyes.

"I'm sick of it!" Akio screamed. Kiyoshi sighed.

"Is he gunna be okay?" Sakura asked.

"He'll be fine. He's been holding this in for a while." Kiyoshi put a hand on Kaminari's shoulder but she wouldn't look away from the brothers.

"You're not better than me! You're not stronger than me! I _can_ beat you! I'm not gunna lose to you anymore!" Akio screamed while swinging his arm in. Four long icicles shot at Akira and one went through his right shoulder.

"Ahh!" Akira fell to one knee and held around the ice. Akio stared in horror.

"A-Akira… I-I didn't… I didn't mean to-…." He said with wide eyes. Akira's hand started glowing red and the ice melted. He stood up still holding his shoulder.

"Alright…" He said. "You don't want me to hold back… so I won't." Akira said. He made a hand sign, grimacing at the pain in his shoulder. Suddenly flames encircled the bothers. Kaminari gasped. They were still visible by everyone else. Akio swallowed and also made a hand sign. Ice emitted from the ground he was standing on and went out until it covered the floor of the circle. The ice didn't melt where it met the fire. Akira slipped on the ice and fell forward. He caught himself on his good hand. He looked up and glared at Akio. He got up and focused his chakra so he could stand on the ice. Akira started walking forward and the flame walls started to close in forcing Akio to walk forward as well. The two walked until they were three meters from one another. They both held out their right arms. Akira's was suddenly engulfed in flames while Akio's was covered in ice. The flames and ice extended for a few more inches past the tips of their middle fingers. Akira looked to be in a lot of pain since the arm he was using was the one that was impaled by the ice.

"Akira… Akio…" Kaminari said with a frown. Naruto looked at her and frowned.

"They'll be okay." He told her. "They're brothers, they won't kill each other." Kaminari looked at him and his eyes widened when he saw her about to cry. She looked back at the fight as the two swung their new element-arm-swords at one another. Naruto put his hand on Kaminari's on the railing and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She moved her hand from the railing to hold his tightly. Naruto frowned and continued to watch the fight. They two pushed their arms against each other's, using their other hands to push, and steam came up from them. The two held a glare between the red and blue. Suddenly Akio let out a cry of pain and backed up quickly. His arm was smoking as he clutched it.

"Akio!" Kaminari shouted. The two looked up at her panting. They saw the tears in her eyes and swallowed. They looked at each other.

"I forfeit!" Everyone in the room looked shocked, gasped or just stared.

"Akio…" Akira said shaking his head. Akio smiled slightly and shook his head.

"I won't make her cry." He said. The flames died down and a medic ran over to each of the brother's.

"Since Akio forfeits the winner is Akira." Hayate said. Akio looked up at Kaminari with a smile. She bit her lip and blinked causing tears to fall down her cheeks. His smile faltered slightly but he kept smiling as the medic looked at his arm. Akira watched his brother as the other medic assessed his shoulder. He looked up at Kaminari and saw the tears. He clenched his left fist and looked down.

"And with that match, the third exam preliminaries are now finished." Hayate said.

* * *

**So how was that? Kinda short I know but I tried. Was the fight okay? Too dramatic?**


	24. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its plot/characters. I only own my OCs and my plot and any changes made to the plot of the anime.**

**Benii-Senkou: the pairing is mostly Naruto with slight Gaara until the sequel. **

**I didn't reread this twice before posting it cause I wanted to get it out. If it has major mistakes just tell me and I'll fix them tomorrow. I'll also reread it tomorrow incase no one tells me any mistakes. **

* * *

Everyone who had won their matches, minus Sasuke, stood in front of Hayate, Anko, and Ibiki who were standing in front of the Hokage. The genin were all in a line: Dosu, Naruto, Kaminari, Tamari, Kankurō, Gaara, Shikamaru, Akira, Neji and then Shino. Akira had his right arm in a sling. Everyone one else was still up in the balcony.

"I commend all those who've advanced to the finals for the third level of the chunin exams." Hayate said. "Well there's one person missing but still, congratulations."

"And now I will begin the explanation of the final round." The Hokage said. "In the final rounds each of you will put your battle skills on display. You demonstrate the power and control you've received in your respected disciplines. Accordingly the final battles will commence one month from now."

"Wait, we're not gunna do it right here and now?" Naruto asked.

"This is to supply a suitable period of preparation." The Hokage explained

"What do you mean by that?" Neji asked.

"Simply this in addition to announcing the conclusion of the preliminary matches to each county's leaders, we must also have some time to prepare and distribute the summons for the final selection. Not to mention that you examinees are going to need time to prepare for something that is this important.

"Look I don't really get what you're tryin'a say." Kankurō said. "What's the point of this?"

"I mean that to know your advisories and prepare yourself you need time. Even though up to this point all the battles have been real battles as I'm sure you can all attest. They were conducted on the premise that you were fighting an unknown enemy but that's no longer the case now that you've battled each other. So in order to make the finals fair and just, we're giving you this month. Each of you must embrace the opportunity to practice hard and learn some new tricks. Because by now everyone here knows your techniques, so using your own tired tricks is a sure way to lose in the finals. And remember to get some rest as well. Now, with all of that behind us, I'd like to begin winding things up. But before we can bring this to an end first there is one more important matter to take care of for the final round."

"Let's get on with it!" Naruto said. "I mean come one, how long do we have to wait until we start training?!"

"In a calm orderly fashion all of you are going to take one slip of paper from the box that Anko is holding." The Hokage said.

"Everyone just stay where you are, I'll just come to you." Anko said. She walked up to Dosu. "Just take one." Everyone took out a paper. Naruto opened his to see a one.

"Huh?"

"Good now everyone has one. Going from left to right tell me the number that's written on your slip of paper."

"I've got eight." Dosu said.

"Number one of course." Naruto said.

"Ten." Kaminari said.

"Seven." Tamari said.

"Five." Kankurō said.

"Three." Gaara said.

"Nine." Shikamaru said.

"Eleven." Akira said.

"Two." Neji said.

"Six" Shino said.

"And that means Sasuke will be number four." Ibiki said.

"Right." The Hokage said. "Very good, Now I'm going to tell you about how the final selection tournament is going to work."

"Ehhhh?" Naruto looked confused.

"Is that what the numbers are for? Drawing lots?"

"Ibiki, you may reveal which ninja have been paired up." Hokage said.

"Yes sir." Ibiki turned the clipboard her was holding around to show a chart. Naruto gulped. The order went as follows: Naruto vs Neji, Gaara vs Sasuke, Kankurō vs Shino, Tamari vs Dosu, then Shikamaru vs whoever wins in the last match: Kaminari vs Akira. Kaminari and Akira swallowed and looked at each other.

"May I ask you a question?" Shikamaru asked raising his hand.

"You may." The Hokage said. Shikamaru pointed one finger up.

"Alright if this is a tournament, does that mean that there's only going to be one winner? I mean only one of is going to be able to become a chunin then?"

"Actually it's quite the contrary. There are going to be several judges for the final rounds including myself, the shinobi leaders and the Kazekage, the lords from the various countries that ultimately will be assigning your missions to you. Through this tournament these judges will be able to make a thorough evaluation of your abilities. They will then decide whether any or all of you possess the qualities required of a chunin. Even if someone loses the first round they could still become a chunin."

"So there's actually a chance that every one of us who competes in the selection could become chunin." Tamari said.

"Correct, but conversely there's also a chance that none of you will be chosen." The Hokage said. Naruto gulped. "The advantage in fighting more rounds in the tournament is in getting more chances to display your talents in front of the judges who will decide your fate. Does that answer your question, Shikamaru? I thank you all for your patients. Now let us adjourn until next month.

* * *

Naruto and Kaminari went to the hospital and went up to the ladies at the reception desk.

"Hey where's Sasuke's room?" Naruto asked.

"Sorry, no visitors allowed." One of the woman said.

"What?! No visitors, are you kidding me?"

"Those are the rules."

"Ah come on lady!"

"Naruto this is a hospital, keep it down." Kakashi said walking down a hall towards him.

"Huh? Oh Kakashi-Sensei!" Naruto ran over to him. Kaminari walked over. "Boy am I glad to see you! I gotta ask you a favor."

"Stop right there I already know what you're going to ask so I've been looking for someone who can oversee your training for the final rounds."

"Hold on! Why can't _you_ train me Sensei?!"

"I have other matters to handle. I don't have time to deal with you, Naruto." Naruto pouted with his arms crossed.

"Hey! Aha! You're going to train Sasuke aren't you Kakash-Sensei?!"

"Now now don't complain." Kakashi said. "Listen I found you an even better teacher than me."

"Well, who is it?"

"It is I." Naruto and Kaminari turned around.

"Hmm?... YOU?! You closet pervert!" Kaminari raised an eyebrow.

"Such insolence." Ebisu said pushing up his sunglasses.

"N-n-n-n-n-not th-th-th-th-th-that g-g-g-g-g-guy!" Naruto said pointing.

"He's a … what?" Kakashi asked. "What did you call him?"

"You're kidding me! Of all the guys you could've picked you, you picked this guy to train me?! What a joke, he's weaker than I am!" Naruto shouted.

"What makes you say that?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm serious you should've seen him! He saw my harem jutsu once and he fell to pieces." Ebisu looked nervous and suddenly covered Naruto's mouth.

"Harem Jutsu?" Kaminari and Kakashi asked.

"Oh it's nothing! Just a little joke we shared." Ebisu said. "Hahaha" Ebisu had Naruto in a joke hold and spoke to him quietly. "Look I'll make you a deal, you keep quiet about that, I'll buy you anything you want to eat. Barbeque, ramen, you name it."

"Anything I want?" Naruto asked.

"Well well, I had no idea you two were acquainted." Kakashi said. Ebisu patted Naruto on the head as Naruto glared at him.

"Ahahah, yes, we go way back."

"I still don't get why it has to be him." Naruto said. "I mean anybody else."

"Look you, if it hadn't been for Kakashi who asked me this favor I would never consider training you."

"Yeah well then don't!"

"Hey hey come on you two, let's calm down." Kakashi crouched down and put his hand to his mouth as he whispered. "Listen Naruto you're wrong about Ebisu-Sensei. He's a special jounin. A private tutor who only trains the elite. Frankly he's a better teacher than I am." Kakashi stood. "Anyway Naruto, I've got to say that out of the three genin in squad seven you're the one whose basic skills need the most work. That's what I want you to focus on this time around."

"Wait, hold on a second, are you honestly saying I'm not as good as Sasuke or Sakura?!" Naruto shouted. Kakashi sighed and held up a hand to Ebisu.

"Naruto, no matter how many skills you master the fundamentals are… well fundamental, and yours could be improved. So if you really want to become strong then just be quiet and pay attention. Alright Ebisu-Sensei, I leave him in your capable hands."

"I'll do what I can." Ebisu said.

"Come on Nari." Kakashi said putting a hand on the girl's back and leading her away.

"See you later Naru-Kun." She said looking back.

"Bye Ame." Naruto grumbled.

* * *

Kaminari and Kakashi left the hospital and walked through the village.

"So Nari-"

"I'm sorry." She said. Kakashi looked at her. "About what happened during the preliminaries with Inazuma." She was looking down as they walked. "I wouldn't have let her-"

"I know it's not your fault, Nari."

"I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Kakashi said as he stopped to face her. He put his hands on her shoulders. "You're not responsible for Inazuma's actions." He lifted her chin. "Nari. She's not you…. Come on, I'll take you for some ramen. Okay?" Kaminari nodded.

* * *

The two were eating Ramen when Tamari and Kankurō entered. Kankurō stopped, holding the flap up, when he saw her.

"Hey Doll." He said with a grin before sitting next to her. Kakashi raised an eyebrow and looked at Kaminari.

"Doll?" He asked. Kaminari's face went pink but she smirked.

"Hey Kitty-Kun." Kankurō's eye twitched and Tamari snickered as she sat down next to Kankurō. "Where's Gaara?"

"Uh, back at the inn." Kankurō said. Kakashi got up.

"Well, I'm sorry but I've got to go." He said with a closed eyed smile before leaving. The two siblings ordered ramen.

"You two aren't afraid of me?" Kaminari asked. They looked at her.

"We're kinda used to a psycho kid being around." Kankurō said.

"_Thanks_." Kaminari said sarcastically.

"So, what was that anyway?" Kankurō asked. "You told me you had a secret, was that it?"

"Yeah…. I have…someone… in me." Kaminari said. The two looked at her.

"Someone?"

"Like… a demon?"

"What?" Kaminari looked at Tamari. "N-No." She shook her head. "I don't think she's a demon… She's been there all my life." The siblings looked at one another. "She's just there and always has been for as long as I can remember…"

"Does this someone have a name?" Tamari asked.

"Inazuma."

"Inazuma? R-Really your name is thunder and you have someone inside you names lightning?" Kankurō asked. Kaminari nodded.

"I didn't name her. She told me her name. She said it was the only thing she remembered…"

"Now you're not making much sense." Kankurō said.

"I don't know." Kaminari said shaking her head. "I can't remember much before I was brought here."

"So you're not from the leaf village." Tamari said. Kaminari shook her head. "Where are you from then?"

"I don't know… I have a headband with, I think… Zs on it."

"Yumegakure." Tamari said. "The Village Hidden Among Dreams."

"But that village was destroyed." Kankurō said.

"Well that's where my headband is from." Kaminari said with a shrug.

"Anyways…" Kankurō said. "What'll it take to get you to possibly-"

"We're at a ramen shop and you're asking me to make you food?"

"Wha- how did you-?"

"Really?" Kaminari asked. "You asked me every day in the tower."

"Yeah so?" Kankurō frowned. The ramen bowls were placed in front of the two siblings.

"The only way I'd be able to make you food is if I had access to a kitchen."

"Your place has to have a kitchen right?"

"Yeah." Kaminari said with a small frown.

"So I could come over for dinn-"

"I'm not letting you in my place."

"Tamari could come too _I guess_." Kaminari raised an eyebrow at him.

"No."

"Aw come on." Kankurō whined. "We're gunna be here for a month."

"So?" Kaminari said hopping off the stool. "You'll be here for a month without my cooking." Kaminari said before leaving. Kankurō went after her and Tamari sighed.

"Wait wait wait, hold on, doll." Kankurō said walking next to her. "Come on doll-"

"Stop calling me that."

"Fine, _Princess_." Kaminari gave him an odd look. "Look to be honest I want you to make something for Gaara." Kaminari stopped walking.

"Gaara? Why do you want me to make something for him?"

"He seemed calmer after eating the grilled cheese you made for him but he wouldn't come ask you now to make it."

"Seriously?"

"Could you make him one? And ya know while you're at it you could make me something." Kaminari gave him a blank look.

"You're just trying to make me make you something."

"Come on please?"

"Nope." Kaminari started walking again. Kankurō whined and she chuckled as she walked away.

* * *

Kaminari was walking by the bath house and saw Ebisu knocked out on the ground and Naruto .

"Oh Ame!" Naruto ran over. "Come on, you gotta help me find the Pervy Sage!" He grabbed her hand and started running.

"Who?" Kaminari blinked in confusion but ran with him anyway.

* * *

"Hey! Pevry Sage! Where are you?!" Naruto shouted as he and Kaminari ran in the village. They stopped and Naruto looked around. "Where'd he disappear to?" They kept going. Suddenly they heard a woman scream and a slap.

"No, no wait! Ouh!" Naruto and Kaminari stopped.

"What do you think you're doing you disgusting old man?!" The woman shouted. The two watched as a woman and a man with white hair came out of the small dango shop.

"I'm sorry but you have such a beautiful pair of soft and lovely- uh- Hands! You really do have beautiful hands. How do you keep them so soft?"

"Fifthly beast!" Naruto and Kaminari flinched.

"So much for soft hands, sheesh." The man said as he held his other cheek which now hand a matching hand print.

"What was I thinking, this guy is really pathetic." Naruto said. "He's even pervier than my last trainer. But it's not like I have much choice." Naruto said before the two walked over.

"Hmm, looks like the woman in this town are just as friendlier as before." The man said. "Still, I like him feisty." He chuckled.

"So you've been here before, huh?" The man turned around.

"Huh? You again."

"I'm surprised they don't make you wear a leash!" Naruto shouted. "You old pervert!

"Shh! Ya know I really wish you wouldn't use the word pervert."

"Oh Yeah?! Well tell me how you like the word joke, cause that's what you are mister! A joke! First I get stuck with a closet perv and now- why can't I get a trainer that- AH!" The man picked Naruto up.

"Oh put a lid on it would ya!" He threw Naruto into a pot then put a lid on it then a rock on the lid. "There ya go kid, you can train in there for a while." The man walked away laughing.

"Naru!" Kaminari ran over and tried to pull the rock off. She struggled with it so Inazuma pushed it off. Kaminari took the lid off and looked down in the pot. Naruto was upside down looking up at her.

"Little help?" He asked. Kaminari pulled the pot down and Naruto crawled out.

"I'll see you later Ame." He said getting up.

"Good luck Naruto." He flashed a smile before running after the man.

* * *

It was starting to get dark when Kaminari went to her apartment and started to unlock the door.

"There you are, finally." Kaminari looked over and saw Kankurō walking over. Kaminari narrowed her eyes.

"How did you find out where I lived?" She asked.

"Easy, I just asked some villager where the white haired girl lived." He said with a shrug.

"What do you want?" Kaminari asked. He opened his mouth and his stomach growled. He chuckled with a sheepish smile. "Seriously?" She sighed. "Fine, I'll make you something quick to go." Kankurō smiled.

"You're the best, doll." He said patting her on the head. She glared at him and he took his hand back with a sheepish chuckle. Kaminari sighed and opened her door. "Nice little place you got here." Kankurō said looking around.

"Sit." Kaminari said as she entered her kitchen. Kankurō sat down and kept looking around. "Tamari know you're here?"

"She knows I'm getting a bite to eat." He said with a smirk. Kaminari rolled her eyes.

"What are you gunna do after the chunin exam?" She asked in singsong with a sigh. Kankurō chuckled slightly.

"I'll face that problem later." Kaminari rolled her eyes.

"Hey, I know, I can teach Tamari to could sometime."

"Didn't I tell you about her not being allowed near a toaster?"

"Well I'll fix that."

"Good luck." Kankurō scoffed. There was a knock at the door and the two looked over.

"You wanna get that for me?" Kaminari said as she got some things out of the fridge. Kankurō got up and opened the door.

"What are _you_ doing here?!" Kaminari heard Naruto shouted. She put what she was holding down on the counter and went to the door. Naruto was pointing at Kankurō with a glare. Kankurō was chuckling.

"Hey Naru." Kaminari said.

"What's _he_ doing in your apartment?!" Kankurō put his arm around Kaminari who tensed and glared up at him.

"What I can't visit my princess for a dinner date?"

"I think I actually prefer doll." Kaminari muttered.

"A _DATE?!_" Naruto shouted.

"Yep, buh-bye now." Kankurō closed the door in Naruto's face. They could hear Naruto shouting on the other side. Kaminari pushed Kankurō's arm off her shoulders and glared at him as he laughed walking back to the kitchen. She opened the door and Naruto stopped yelling but still looked upset.

"You're not _seriously_ on a _date_ with _that guy_, are ya?"

"Of course not, Naru." Kaminari said. "He just came over to mooch off my cooking skills." Naruto looked relived.

"Oh good. You had me worried there for a second." Naruto said with a laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh… you think I could come in too?"

"You don't trust him do you." Kaminari said.

"Not one bit."

"Come on in." Naruto grinned.

"Looks like I'm staying too." Naruto said as he sat next to Kankurō. Kankurō looked at him annoyed while Naruto looked at him smugly.

* * *

Kaminari placed plates of food in front of the two boys and they grinned.

"Thanks doll/Ame!" Naruto looked at Kankurō will a glare while Kankurō started eating. Kaminari went back to cooking.

"Whacha making now?" Naruto asked.

"Grilled Cheese." Kaminari said. Kankurō raised an eyebrow.

"For?" He asked.

"Well, if you'll give it to him, it's for Gaara."

"What? You're making _him_ food now?" Naruto asked.

"Mhm." Naruto looked confused.

* * *

"Here." Kaminari held out a brown paper bag to Kankurō as he stood in the doorway of the apartment. "Make sure he gets it okay."

"Yes ma'am." Kankurō said with a roll of his eyes. "See ya later doll."

"See ya." Kaminari said before closing the door. She walked back into the kitchen and started to clean up.

"So did you end up catching that guy today?" Kaminari asked Naruto who was still sitting at the isle.

"Yeah, we had watermelon though he wouldn't stop talking about his research. I showed him my sexy no jutsu and he taught me to walk on water!"

"That's great Naru." Kaminari said with a smile.

"Then we went to a hot springs with a giant toad." Kaminari raised an eyebrow and Naruto chuckled. He stood up from his chair and started walking to the door. Kaminari followed. "So, uh, night Ame." Naruto said with a smile.

"Night Naru-Kun."

"Oh, and thanks for the food. This counts as one of our ramen dat-days!" He cleared his throat. "So I'll pay for the next meal."

"Okay." Kaminari smiled.

"See ya tomorrow."

"Night."

* * *

**So I hope that was good.^_^ Thanks to everyone who's followed or made this a favorite. And big thank you to all who review.  
**


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